《Tales of the Rebirth Apocalypse Emperor (BL)》


 Chapter 1: Returning to the past

    It had been almost fifty years since humanity was pulled to this Gondola universe. The human race, who had always found themselves at the top of the food chain, for the first time, experienced an incredible struggle just to win the right to survive at the bottom of the food chain.


    This striving incident was not unique. It was more common than you think. Not only it happened on hundreds of planets across the Gondola universe, but it also took place in several space colonies around different worlds.


    In the first year that the human race populated the Gondola system, thousands of human settlements were on hundreds of planets. However, those numbers were drastically reduced in just a few years. The hundreds of planets were changed to tens of planets in a matter of merely three years.


    With another few decades passed, there were only a few planets with a dozen settlements left¡­


    Actually, when so many races had been first introduced to the Gondola universe, the human race was considered one of the potential races. Even though their physical body was weak, they had higher populations, countless skills, and several unique technologies due to their numerous homeworlds.


    Unfortunately, because of their ignorance and arrogance, they have wasted their great prospects. They were not united, always fighting and backstabbing with each other. As individuals, they were superb, but as a race, they failed.


    By the time they realized, it was already too late...


    At that point, their vast territories have considerably shrunk. Their abundant resources were practically non-existent. Their race was substantially weaker than before. Still, there was a final hope. They hoped to reform and rebuild. The human alliance was then established.


    However, when the nearly impossible alliance of the opposing undead races was formed, the fate of the human race was sealed.


    The undead races were one of the strongest and most aggressive races. They rarely agreed with each other on anything. However, they had one thing in common; they all had an intense hatred for the human race and held the deepest grudges against humanity. With their combined elite forces, they decimated the human race on every planet on their path.


    The human cities were destroyed one by one. Most of the remaining people escaped to allied territories, neutral zones, or even the forsaken and dangerous areas. However, the undead alliance was determined. They followed their causes until the very end.


    For the past five years, the human community has been found and neutralized one after another. Until at this very moment, there is only a couple of people left. These two people have been hiding and living in isolation in Hallerbos, one of Gondola''s most mysterious and foggy forests.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


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    Early January 2085


    3<sup>rd</sup> Planet ¨C Gondola dimension


    Zhora district - Sector 2 ¨C Hallerbos forest


    Last-survivor group of human races


    ¡­


    It was almost 9 o''clock in the evening. The red moon had already shined brilliantly in the dark sky today. It was a very cold, quiet, and foggy night. You could not see or hear anything around you. No one in their right minds would come out of their comfortable houses and walk around at a time like this. However, if you followed the moonlight, you would see two people were running like wild in the middle of the forest.


    ¡°Pat...pat...pat.,¡± The sound of the footsteps and heavy breath echoed in the dark forest.


    ¡°I ¨C I ¨C have to rest, Murong,¡± Nick whispered.


    ¡°No. Keep going, Nick.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±


    One step after another. Again and again. Chen Murong did not know how long they had fled away from that bastard demon. After spending the last four years together with Nick, they developed some kind of a romantic relationship even though Nick was ten years younger than him. His children even called Nick ¡°dad¡± from time to time now. However, unlike him, Nick came from the alternate human race world called ¡°Earth.¡±


    Suddenly, Nick was slowing down.


    ¡°Leave me.¡±


    ¡°No way. No,¡± came the firm response from Chen Murong.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t,¡± Nick continued whispering.


    ¡°Nick¡­come on¡­one last try. We¡¯re almost at the designated teleportation spot.¡±


    However, Nick had stopped altogether at this point. Several wounds on his body had clearly changed from red to black now.


    ¡°I am sorry, Murong ¡­ I love you¡­Live for me.¡±


    Without warning, Nick raised his warrior¡¯s blade and killed himself.


    ¡°NO!¡­Nick¡­NO!¡±


    Chen Murong was frozen in place for a heartbeat. However, he did not cry. If his years in Gondola had achieved nothing else, they had succeeded in hardening his emotions. Crying was no good to him now. He enduringly parted himself from Nick¡¯s body and continued running.


    However, before he could run far, he heard the noise followed closely behind his back all of a sudden. This noise caused him to shrivel with fear to his bones. He felt cold and half-frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding himself so desolate and hopeless.


    Nothing is more painful to the human mind than the feeling of being worked up by a quick succession of events, the death of his lover, fear, and certain deprivation of hope.


    ¡®Nick died, he rested, and I am following him¡­¡¯


    ¡°Hahaha, you little rat. You have nowhere to hide now,¡± a team of demons had surrounded Murong and howled with enthusiasm.


    ¡°You are the last of the human race. Prepare to die. You cannot blame anyone but yourself. You weak rats.¡± Lucifer, one of the emperor-rank demons from the undead race, had come forward from the group of monsters.


    Quickly, it used its claw to snap on Murong¡¯s stomach, causing heavy bleeding. He suddenly felt the chill of certain death. At the final moment of his life, with his last energy, he activated his rare, risky time magic skill ¨C reincarnation.


    ¡°Ding! The reincarnation spell has been activated with space gemstone rank SSS.¡±


    ¡°Ding! Congratulations! The spell has succeeded. The user will reincarnate back to a random time period in 3..2..1...¡±


    Then, his world went dark and silent¡­

 Chapter 2: Reborn 60 years before

    Before Gondola period


    Blue planet ¨C Pangea continent


    Laputa kingdom


    ¡­


    The sun hung high up in the blue sky as always, sending light and warmth down to the streets. The massive statue of Apollo, the god of the light, under the illumination of sunlight, stood shiny and sparkling, radiating an air of wonder and magnificence.


    Zerento city, the Laputa kingdom''s capital, was the most extensive trade and technology hub city on the Blue planet. This city housed one of the most prominent religions on the continent, the Temple of light. There were a lot of shrines dedicated to light deities distributed over the city.


    This Zerento city was also the most populated city on the continent. It had a frightening amount of population, numbering almost twenty million people. Over here, the businesses were flourished, and a large number of people traveled back and forth on a daily basis. Countless merchants and students from various countries had come here with their own dreams and aspirations. The amount of money circulating in the city''s daily economy usually amounted to several hundreds of billion gold coins.


    In one late afternoon, at Life Science Academy (LSA), the top high school in the Pangea continent in science and technology, there was a fine-looking young man sleeping on the wooden desk in one of the classrooms.


    "Murong¡­Murong¡­Murong!!!"


    "Huh."


    Suddenly, Chen Murong opened his eyes. The white light flooded through his vision for a while. When he was able to see what in front of him, he could not help being confused by the scene.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Where am I?" Chen Murong startlingly asked himself.


    "Where are you? Of course, in Math class, mate¡­Damn, how can you sleep in Mrs. Wang''s class?... There is an exam next Monday."


    "Exam?"


    "Yes, moron. You were lucky. She didn''t notice you. Hahaha."


    Liu Wu!


    So, it worked! He had a serious doubt in his mind when he selected this risky time magic skill ¨C reincarnation. He could not believe he was staring and talking with his best childhood friend. Liu Wu died in the human-dark elf war 40 years ago. Murong saw Liu Wu dead in front of himself while he could do nothing. So, after living in Gondola for 50 years, he had come back to Blue planet again! Now, he was in his high school in Laputa kingdom, but he had to figure out exactly when he was.


    "Liu Wu, what is today''s date?" Murong hurriedly asked.


    "Can you just take a look at your phone? You are too lazy, mate. Today is 12th January."


    Ummm... So, he remembered that Mrs. Wang''s class was in the final year. Then, it turned out to be around 60 years ago. There was still a year left before the apocalypse period began. He still had plenty of time to prepare.


    At that moment, Chen Murong decided that he could not allow the mistakes of his past life to repeat themselves. He would use what he had learned over his sixty years of struggling to become someone who would change the human race''s destiny.


    "By the way, what is your plan today? Do you want to go to the central market after school?" Liu Wu suddenly asked while Murong was still thinking.


    "No, I will go back to Xia kingdom today," Murong paused slightly and replied. In Murong''s mind, he had missed his family very much. He had to restrain himself not to go to the Chen family''s house immediately.


    "Oh, what is the matter?" Liu Wu asked with a surprised look and added. "You rarely go home during the semester."


    "Nothing. Just would like to visit my family for the weekend," Murong plainly explained.


    "Ok, we can hang out together later next week then," Liu Wu dismissed the conversation without any further thoughts.


    "Umm," replied Murong.


    Then, Chen Murong went back to his mind thinking and drifting in his thought about his past life. By the time he surmised what happened around him, two hours had already passed. The school bell had finally rung, signaling the end of the school day.


    Chen Murong quickly put his book and pen into his school bag and said goodbye to Liu Wu. It was time for him to go home finally.

 Chapter 3: Chen family

    Chen family¡¯s manor was located in an elegant Royal district surrounded by other prominent families¡¯ manors in Xia kingdom''s capital. Chen family was not considered one of the biggest four families in the Xia kingdom, but it was still one of the large ones. This could also be seen from how close it was to the king¡¯s palace. Chen family¡¯s manor was only half a kilometer from the center of kingdom power.


    To travel from Laputa kingdom to Xia kingdom, Chen Murong took a yellow double-decker bus to Zerento teleportation station. Whenever he thought of this teleportation technology, he felt proud of his family, specifically his father.


    His father, Chen Dong, was a famous engineer who invented this teleportation system. Although the system was not widely used due to its new technology and military controls, their company stock price (Chen group) had been rising through the roof. So far, only a few major cities with strict regulations had these teleportation stations.


    After 30 minutes of queuing and security scanning procedure at the entrance of the beautiful futuristic glass dome ¨C Zerento teleportation station, he boarded one of the white spherical shuttles. This spherical structure had a toroidal bulge around its equator in which the trans-dimensional drives were situated. The journey only took about a minute, and you would not feel a thing inside the shuttle when it jumped through subspace.


    Having arrived at the destination, Murong made his way to the security door and quickly passed the information desk located at the front of the Kunming teleportation station. He then took another blue double-decker bus to Chen family¡¯s manor.


    It was almost 7 pm when Chen Murong arrived at Chen family¡¯s manor. Murong was quite ecstatic to see his old childhood house again in perfect condition. In his past life, by the time he had a chance to come back to the capital of Xia kingdom, this house had already been ruined and deteriorated into several piles of stones.


    ¡°Welcome back home, young master Murong,¡± Chen family¡¯s old butler, Chen Gui, has greeted him with a smile on his face.


    Chen Murong looked back at this senior figure. This old man was loyal and capable. He continued to serve grandpa and grandma during the beginning period of the apocalypse as a butler and a bodyguard. Without him, both of them probably would not survive the first week of the apocalypse. They both, regrettably, had weak foundations and obtained non-combat jobs. Unfortunately, he died three years later by assassination planned by supposedly Ye family.


    ¡°Thank you, uncle Gui,¡± Chen Murong also responded with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Both of your parents are not home. They went to Lianjiang for a business trip and will be back next week,¡± Chen Gui duly informed Murong.


    As a lead engineer and a president of Chen group, his father, Chen Dong, often traveled to meet our business partners. His mother, Chen Yiren, as a Chen group marketing department director, also frequently traveled together with him. Actually, because of this reason, our family members in the capital had lost contact with them at the beginning of the apocalypse and later found that they were dead. Chen Murong had vowed in his mind that, in this life, he had to prevent this from happening at all cost.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°That is fine. Thank you,¡± replied Chen Murong and continued politely ordering the old butler.


    ¡°I will go to my room upstairs. Please notify me when the dinner is ready.¡±


    ¡°Yes, young master,¡± Chen Gui acknowledged Murong¡¯s request while Murong was walking to his room.


    Chen family¡¯s house was a three-story building. At the ground level, it was equipped with a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a patio for outdoor eating, two sitting areas, and several retainers¡¯ rooms. On the other levels, they consisted of several Chen family members¡¯ bedrooms, guest rooms, working spaces, and library. Chen Murong¡¯s bedroom was on the second floor of the manor.


    Murong then walked up the stairs to his room but unexpectedly paused outside of his room¡¯s door. He surprisingly heard some voices behind the door. He quietly turned the key inside its hole and suddenly pushed the door open and shouted.


    ¡°Stop, little thief!¡±


    The young boy who was looking for something on his study desk had flinched and turned his face back to look at him. Once he realized who it was, he yelled with an exciting voice.


    ¡°Big bro!¡±


    Of course, it was Murong¡¯s little brother, Chen Huilong. This guy always sneaked into Murong¡¯s room and stole his expensive secret snacks. He knew Murong couldn¡¯t bear to punish him.


    "You are back!" Huilong ran toward me and hugged me with his short arms. I, then, was hugging him back. I could not tell you how much I had missed this little guy. At the beginning of the apocalypse, he and my sister - Chen Yilin, were missing. Our family had searched for him and my sister for weeks but in vain. We only found Chen Yilin approximately a month later. We had never recovered this little guy, but we had never stopped looking. We spent a lot of our family assets to find him.


    I looked at him carefully. He is still the same kid I remembered in my memory. He looks as cute as ever with an innocent smile on his face. However, don''t be fooled by his innocent face. This little guy is very cunning. He always plays pranks when you least expected it. He even used to blackmail me when I sneaked out to the party at night. However, he is a kind- and soft- hearted person. He received punishment from our parents for me when I stole our parent''s sports car for the second time and broke it. I still remember what he said back then.


    "I don''t want them to send you to military school, big bro¡­.I will only be grounded in the house for a week," Huilong spoke with a smile on his face.


    I was really impressed with the mindset of this little guy back then. Of our four siblings, I was the closest to him because he could always play jokes with me. Our big brother, Chen Dawei, was too strict with us.


    "Don''t play innocent and pretend to be a good little brother to me. You were stealing my stash, weren''t you?" I asked with a smirk on his face.


    "Hahaha. I won''t deny it bro, but I was thrilled to see you home," he laughed.


    "Never mind," I opened my drawers, found some snacks, and threw them to this little guy.


    "Thank you, bro!" He received snacks and looked at me with a smile and wide eye.


    "Let''s talk over dinner. I can''t play with you right now. I will need to do something before dinner."


    "Sure, bro. See you at dinner!" Huilong replied and rashly left the room. He had already gotten what he came for anyway.

 Chapter 4: Preparation plan and Chen Dawei

    After Huilong left the room, I walked straight to my study desk, trying to find a pencil and a notebook.


    I thought to myself. "I have to draft a plan¡­In order to have adequate preparation for the apocalypse, I need my family to be on board. But, how can I convince them? I could not just tell them the story without proof, couldn''t I? Ummm¡­They probably won''t believe me. They will just think that I am joking or, worse, have a mental breakdown. I would not want to spend time in the psychological ward."


    "So, I need to find some proof," I murmured to myself while I was sitting on my favorite round swivel chair. I rested my chin on my hands and thought.


    "The most irrefutable proof would be to show them the ability in the apocalypse period. However, the apocalypse period has not yet begun. How could I get the ability? If there is a dungeon, it is only a matter of clearing it. God''s spirit, the entity that was later found to be responsible for the apocalypse, gave people a chance to expedite their spiritual evolution by passing through the dungeon and not selecting any other rewards."


    It had also been found out later that the job''s quality depended on the innate spiritual capacity. The more spiritual energy accumulated in your body by the time of changing the job, the better job and skill you would get. Those who were lucky enough to step into the dungeon on the first day of the apocalypse and successfully awaken their spiritual senses were all having legendary jobs.


    "However, now, it is one year earlier. Where could I find such a dungeon?"


    Thought of that. I finally raised my eyebrows and recalled that, in my past life, the scientists had made a hypothesis that all the first-rate dungeons should have been formed before the Apocalypse day due to the required large amount of spiritual energy accumulation.


    "So, I need to find those dungeons and obtain some artifacts or spiritual abilities. Then, I can convince my family," I secretly thought and reached my right hand to grab the Blue planet world map on my big floor-to-ceiling bookshelf on the side of my desk.


    I looked at the world map and focused on the main continent, called the "Pangea continent." In Blue planet, 70% of the area was the ocean. There were two main continents, the smaller one, the Parvus continent, and the considerably bigger one, the Pangea continent. There were five countries in the Pangea continent and, my country, the Xia kingdom, was located on the east side of the continent.


    Studying at the Xia kingdom terrain, there were six first-rate dungeons discovered in the Xia kingdom if he recalled correctly. These six dungeons were the most difficult ones to clear because the inside monsters were very ferocious and strong due to plenty of spiritual energy in the dungeon.


    From the map, the closest and easiest one to find is probably the one in Mount Taiyuan. The dungeon was just located at the top of the peak of the mountain. I was marking dungeons with red circles around the map when butler Gui informed me the dinner was ready.


    A few minutes later, I was walking downstairs to the dining room with Huilong. When we arrived there, it seemed other family members were already there waiting.


    At dinner, except Huilong and me, there were four other people sitting around the elegant round dining table, our big brother - Chen Dawei, our sister ¨C Chen Yilin, our grandmother ¨C Chen Yawen, and our grandfather - Chen Jinnan. In contrast to Huilong''s cheerful personality, Chen Dawei was very strict. He joined the Xia kingdom imperial military since he had graduated from university. He had an athletic-looking body but moderate muscle mass. His skin was considered white tone in our Xia kingdom''s lineage. You can say he was a kind of handsome bad boy type. There were a lot of women pursuing him, but he had no interest in any of them.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    At the beginning of the apocalypse, Chen Dawei stayed in General Yang Fei''s military camp. It took him about two weeks to be able to come back to our manor. Chen Dawei was very capable. He applied his military skills with his newly obtained psychic skills. He became one of the top ten fighters in the Xia kingdom.


    I nodded at him and saw that he bounced back at me. He usually didn''t talk much nor express his emotion. However, I know that, behind this smug, indifferent, and insensitive face, he was actually very caring for his siblings on the inside.


    When he came back to help me, grandma, and grandpa after the apocalypse day, he protected and trained everyone in Chen''s family. He worked and dedicated himself to our family all day long, seven days a week, to ensure our family would have a good life in the future.


    In fact, with his talent, if he stayed in the military, he would be promoted. Instead, he sacrificed his chance in the promotion to commander level in the army to his rival for the sake of staying with us.


    Later, he also traded his rare psychic spiritual stones to space spiritual stones for me to upgrade my skill. As a space and time mage in the previous life, I was very weak at the beginning. It was a great gift to me.


    Though, the most valuable gift that he gave me is when our family had fallen into Ye family''s plot. Ye family patriarch had schemed and accused our family of treason. Due to the betrayal of our own people, the amount of evidence had piled up against us. The king was furious. Despite the slight doubt and objection from the first prince, the House of Lords had no choice but to proceed with the extermination of our family.


    The order of execution of our family came in the middle of the night. Our house was surrounded. Only me and Chen Dawei were able to break out and escaped from the capital. However, we were able to avoid the trackers for only a short time.


    I am still able to recall my last memory with him¡­


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    *** Murong''s past life point of view. ***


    We escaped to Indiana Forest in the north of the capital. However, after two days and two nights, we have been encircled by enemies. Chen Dawei was still in terrible shape, so we had retreated to one of the stone caves. We, then, barricaded and disguised the entrance of the cave with several heavy stones.


    However, we were able to forestall the enemies for half a day. They have found us and called for reinforcements. Chen Dawei was still not recovered much, and there was no other way out. There was only one chance, though, that was to use a rare teleportation scroll that our family had been safekeeping.


    However, this teleportation scroll was special. The more people that it needed to cover, the slimmer chance you would succeed. With two people, there was only a 5% chance of succeeding.


    "In a few moments, they are going to break through, and when they do, they will know the fear of the famous space mage. I''ve taken tens of warriors at once before," I exclaimed.


    "And how many are out there?" asked Dawei.


    "Oh, probably a hundred."


    "Right¡­It settles then."


    "What do mean it settles?" I flinched and asked.


    "I can''t get out, but you can."


    "How? No.. No. Not a chance." I shook my head and stared back at him.


    "I am your BIG brother, don''t forget. I say you can go. I say you WILL go."


    "Don''t ask again. I am not leaving you."


    "Oh, I won''t ask Murong."


    "Don''t¡­"


    Not waiting for me to complete the sentence, Dawei activated the scroll over me. I hastily raised my wand back toward him to cast my attraction spell, but he had quickly used his psychic ability to impede me. Even as he did so, the barricade had been broken. Two enemies were charging in.


    I then turned my face to try to cast a spell on them, but it was also too late. The teleportation scroll had already been triggered, and there was a bright light hovered all around me. I, at last, tried to step out, but it was also unsuccessful.


    After a short moment, the light around me finally vanished, and the scene was completely changed.


    Furiously against my will, I accepted my big bro''s last gift¡­

 Chapter 5: Dinner with the family

    "It is good that you could come back to have dinner with family on the weekend once in a while." The sound from my grandma interrupted me while I recalled one of the saddest moments of my previous life.


    "Indeed," Grandpa agreed.


    I smiled back at both of my grandparents.


    In my previous life, my grandfather, Chen Jinnan, was a formation practitioner, and my grandmother, Chen Yawen, was a Golden hand farmer. Both of them got a supporting job. Like my job, a space and time mage, we were very weak in the beginning. If they had survived until the Gondola migration, their powers should rise and soar.


    I looked around and asked them.


    "Where is uncle Fang?"


    Uncle Chen Fang was my father''s little brother. He worked in a government secret intelligence agency (GSIA) for the Xia kingdom government. Due to his job''s nature, he had been sent away out of town from time to time. Even at the beginning of the apocalypse, he was sent to the Xia kingdom''s north border to spy on Arcadia kingdom. It was a kind of lucky coincidence that I met him during my fleeing from the capital after I lost most of my family. He had taken care of me since then. Unfortunately, he too died years later¡­


    "Your uncle Fang could not come home this week. Everyone is busy at his office. I think he probably has been sent elsewhere again," Chen Jinnan replied.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    As I was going to say something back, the servants brought several pots to our table.


    "It''s time to eat!" Huilong, who had been waiting impatiently, exclaimed excitedly. His stomach was protesting for quite a while now. We were all smile at his enthusiasm.


    In the apocalypse period, the second thing I missed the most, apart from my family, was food. All Chen family members are foodies despite our slim bodies. Today, there were at least 18 dishes on the table in spite of having only six people in the family. There were four different flavor soup pots that continuously emitted an appetizing aroma on the table. A variety of meat and vegetable dishes had also been continuously serving, one after another.


    During the dinner, I used chopsticks to give our grandparents their favorite food, fried fatty meat with string beans, and then grabbed one of the large fatty meat pieces to Dawei.


    When I did that, Dawei halted and glanced at me for a minute with a look of surprise flashed through his eyes. Huilong also stared at me shockingly with unexpected eyes.


    Chen Yilin, who had just lifted her chopsticks and picked up a piece of stir-fried green vegetable, snorted and said mockingly.


    "You want something from Dawei, don''t you?"


    I laughed. "There is no such scheme, big sis. I have just felt that I would like to take care of our big brother."


    "I won''t believe you," Yilin replied and continued to eat on her own dish.


    Dawei looked at me and nodded in an approving manner. I felt satisfied with myself.


    There was nothing important in the remaining dinner. We continued to have dinner in harmony and common fashion way for about an hour. Unsurprisingly, mostly and normally, Huilong was the one who was coming up with the conversation. We were telling stories, arguing with each other, insulting each other, and laughing together from time to time.


    Even though this is such an ordinary dinner, I feel very happy to be able to eat with my family again¡­

 Chapter 6: Mount Taiyuan trip

    The next day early morning, after a happy dinner day, Chen Murong prepared himself to go to Mount Taiyuan.


    What kind of place is Mount Taiyuan?


    Mount Taiyuan was actually a very famous site for the people of Xia kingdom. Nobody in the kingdom would not know of this renowned historical place.


    Following the fall of the Sheng dynasty 300 years ago, Xia kingdom was found by Xia family patriarch, Xia Guanzhou. At the end of the Sheng dynasty, the empire declined amidst famine, corruption, and feuding between royal families. There was a vast rift between the royal class and other classes like heaven and earth. The unrest by the lower class was happening everywhere in the empire. Under the chaotic situation, Xia Guanzhou rallied four other prominent families under one banner, overthrown the previous Sheng dynasty.


    The newly founded Xia kingdom embraced the hereditary feudal clan system and the serfdom system. This reform greatly startled the other nations on the continent and gave an increase in the power of great families.


    Goguryeo empire, one of the four other countries on the continent, declared the Xia kingdom''s foundation to be illegal due to the lack of previous royal lineage and proceeded to invade the Xia kingdom, starting a war that lasted more than a decade.


    The newborn Xia kingdom, however, did not yield. Rallying countless people under different families/clans, they met the invasion with similar appalling force. For more than twelve years, the blood-stained across the south-eastern part of the continent.


    As the war last longer, the advantage of the war seemed to be shifting to the favor of Goguryeo''s side due to the internal struggles among major Xia kingdom''s families. Dong Juming, 157th king of Goguryeo empire, took the opportunity to march more than ten million elite soldiers to force the Xia kingdom to surrender.


    However, in the end, the Goguryeo army was unexpectedly defeated by falling into the trap of Xia kingdom''s great general, Ye Mingsi. The entire food stockpile of the whole army was burnt into ashes overnight at the peak of Mount Taiyuan. Dong Juming reluctantly retreated the army back to the Goguryeo empire due to the lack of provision. Goguryeo''s army has been trapped on the way back and, most of them, have been annihilated.


    Over the countless years of recuperation, Xia kingdom grew stronger while Goguryeo empire grew weaker due to the result of the famous final Taiyuan battle. Finally, Xia kingdom was able to force a peace treaty with Goguryeo empire, ending the last warring period between countries in the continent.


    Nowadays, Mount Taiyuan has been preserved as a national park. To go there, Chen Murong needs to take the hyperloop train for about two hours to arrive at the area around the mountain and another 10 minutes'' walk to reach the foot of the hill.


    Chen Murong packed weapons, food, and camping necessity that he found in his family storage room. It was a sunny day. Nothing was more suitable for a significant departure than good weather. The sun was shining brilliantly on the bright blue sky, revealing a busy atmosphere in the early morning in a typical large city. He called the taxi to take him to the hyperloop train station.


    This hyperloop train was a new way of fast intercity transportation that replaced traditional rail station five years ago. The hyperloop train used cylindrical pods to carry passengers to travel through tubes from which most of the air had been removed to reduce friction. Those pods were designed to float on air skis rather than utilizing wheels like a traditional train or car, using the same basic idea as an air hockey table. This allowed the pods to travel at a speed up to thousands of kilometers per hour.


    After some time, the taxi that Murong called had already arrived. The driver was waiting comfortably, sitting with his chin resting on his fist and listening to the radio.


    "Hello, good morning. Please get me to the hyperloop train station," Murong said while he was opening the car door and getting into this standard black taxi.


    "Good morning, sir! Sure! It probably takes about 15 minutes in this traffic," the driver said.


    "Do you want to listen to any music?" The taxi owner continued the conversation.


    "Whatever. They are all fine with me," Murong replied to the driver.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    As their car was moving, the traffic was louder and denser. Traveling in the city at this hour, you could see all kinds of the scene; schoolchildren were kicking a ball in the playground, individuals hurrying on a bike, people queuing longly for the bus, or even an old woman wrapped in dirty quilts, sitting on the floor, begging.


    It was such a swift car trip, though. Not long, they arrived at the memorial park in front of the Xici hyperloop train station. Their heavy tires were swishing in the wet streets caused by morning sprinklers when they were parking. Murong got out of the taxi, paid the bill, and continued walking into the hyperloop train station. On the way, he noticed a painted sign in our Blue planet language (Pangean) on the pavement that said: "Welcome to Xici station."


    At the hyperloop train station''s lobby, Murong bought a train ticket from an automatic selling machine and went through a simple cursory security check.


    "Your pod is on the third floor," the security officer told him, "You could take the escalator up and wait for the boarding time."


    Murong said, "Thank you." to the officer and went to find the platform for the south-west line on the third floor as he suggested.


    On the third floor, hanging from the roof, a large digital departure board was shown to all passengers. He upturned his face and saw his pod and platform number listed¡ªto Mount Taiyuan. This information was confirmed by a voice on the loudspeaker, "Platform eight, for Kunming to Mount Taiyuan, Xinjiang, and Beidu." He then waited for the boarding time and got into his pod at around 7.15 am.


    -------------------------------------------------------------


    *** Murong''s point of view. ***


    The pod that I boarded was full of people. There were only two other adult passengers, though. They seemed to be elementary school teachers since they came with about two dozen children. I sat down and drowsed until I was woken by a few beeping sounds on the closing door signals.


    The pod was pulled out of Kunming city without ceremony. Turning slightly towards the window and leaning my back to the rest of the seat, I opened one little bottle of water that I purchased from the grocery store in front of the train track. It was not cold now, but it would do. I poured some water into a plastic cup, screwed the top back on, and slipped the bottle into my backpack.


    The pod was quietly moving along. We whipped past the business area of the city in a blur of morning sunshine. From my pod, I got a glimpse of a bookstore I often went to, the playground that was turned into a large and modern department store, and the Changjun middle school, where my brother, Huilong, currently attended. Looking out the pod window, it was like gazing through a museum exhibition window of busy city life. However, one saw the picture but heard no sound.


    After a hundred kilometers or so, we were rushing through a suburb and then along the banks of the Yangxi river, heading into the Pangea continent''s inner land. For another 10 minutes passed, we rarely saw the city houses anymore in the scene. We only saw the compact small villages with farmland and bare trees. Some of the fields in the farmland had already been plowed and awaited planting. Cows and horses were also seen running around the grassy turf.


    Seeing this beautiful and peaceful scene, I could not stop comparing it with my time in the apocalypse period. If I had not experienced the past life apocalypse myself, I couldn''t believe all these wonderful open fields would one day become fierce battlegrounds for humanity to survive. These wide landscapes of civilization would be soaked in blood and thick with the graves of dead humans. A good school turned into a ruin, a river poisoned, a pond shrunk and filled with bones and blood. I had suffered a deeper pain of pondering closely in the past.


    The closer we got to Mouth Taiyuan, the more anxious I felt. What if I couldn''t find the dungeon? How should I proceed next? Fortunately, I didn''t have to suffer from my thinking for too long. Less than two hours, we had arrived at Mount Taiyuan train station. It was a modern four-story building located on the right-hand side of the track. Personally, I loved the speed of this hyperloop train and the knowledge that it wasn''t stopping anywhere but just making a straight line to Mount Taiyuan. The journey took only one hour and fifty-four minutes.


    After arriving at the Mouth Taiyuan train station, I left the station and walked toward Mount Taiyuan. It took about 10 minutes'' walk, and I reached the foot of the mountain. I looked at the surrounding. There were only two buildings in the area, a mom-and-pop grocery store, and a small ancient inn. I came directly to that inn and went in to ask about the direction.


    It turned out that the inn was empty except for two women employees, wearing hunter leather coats and smoking.


    "Do you want a room or dining service?" One of the women asked me.


    "Wouldn''t I be happier sitting in the cozy inn and having lunch before going through the uncomfortable forest?" I thought to myself, and I immediately told her that I wanted a dining service.


    "What would you like to order?" The woman asked and pointed at the menu board on the wall.


    "Have you served lunch set yet?" I asked.


    "Sure, we serve anything you order," the server responded with a smile, "I will be right back."


    Ten minutes later, the same brown uniform woman brought me a glass of orange juice and a lunch tray consisting of boiled broccoli, French fries, and a fillet of black peppered cod with a brownie as a dessert. This set was a usual western-style lunch found in the Laputa kingdom.


    I amazingly enjoyed the ordinary food prepared by this small inn than I thought I should. Maybe because, technically, I have just come back from the catastrophe period.


    After I was full, I asked for some information about the mountain from them. They told me roughly about the route that I should take and gave me a crude drawing map. I said "Thank you." to them, paid the bill, and left the inn. It was time to find this dungeon¡­

 Chapter 7: Big bad wolf

    Before Gondola period


    Blue planet''s calendar ¨C 13th January 2024


    Xia kingdom ¨C Mount Taiyuan


    ...


    It took Murong almost 8 hours to look for any fissures or abnormalities until he, eventually, found one. At first, he thought he would be able to find it quickly since he roughly knew where it was. However, the terrain was different from what he remembered. He was lost in the mountain forest several times until he found what was supposed to be the dungeon entrance, the fuzzy transparent circular look with the size of palm in the air.


    Then, Murong chose not to enter the dungeon immediately but to go into it the next morning instead. He recalled, in his previous life, this dungeon was not a fighting type. It was a time-consuming dungeon that released the mission to find a golden key. It was already at night-time when he found the dungeon portal, and he did not know how long it would take to clear the dungeon. He was both exhausted and hungry due to scouting around the mountain all day long. Hence, he decided it was better to wait for tomorrow.


    So, where should he sleep tonight? He was very fatigued and lazy to go down the mountain to the inn that he had his former lunch. Looking around the area, he discovered an excellent small empty cave that he could sleep in it. It might be hard for a young master from a noble family to sleep in nature like this. However, for Murong, who had experienced the tussle in the apocalypse for many years before, it was certainly not. Therefore, after having a tuna sandwich as a quick dinner, he soon fell asleep in that cave.


    The following early morning, Murong woke up in the orange light. He found out that it was actually not that bad to spend the night in the uncomfortable cave. At least, the air was filtered through the limestone rock of the cave, so you would be breathing air that was as dry and as clean as you could get. Except it got a little bit cold in there during a certain part of the night, and he wished he had someone with him to snuggle up with.


    After washing his face with a bottle of water and having some snacks, he went to the Mount Taiyuan portal entrance that he found yesterday again. He reached out his hand on the dungeon entrance and said, "Activate."


    "Ding! Welcome to Chimera dungeon," the familiar sound from the system appeared on his mind.


    "Dungeon class: Soldier."


    "Dungeon type: Team dungeon. 5 people limit."


    "Dungeon objective: Finding a golden key within 12 hours of the time limit."


    "Dungeon time ratio: 1:6."


    "Dungeon fail''s penalty: Spiritual energy accumulation reduced by 10%."


    "You will be given the freedom to act as you please upon completion of the dungeon objective. You can hunt as many enemies as you wish, but there will be no reward on the hunt."


    Chen Murong listened carefully to the system''s announcement while took the chance to survey the new surroundings. He thought to himself. This dungeon was a treasure hunt dungeon. Basically, he had to find a golden key to unlock the treasure case within the time limit. While he might have to fight some monsters during clearing, it seemed the spiritual energy in the air was not enough to induce the presence of strong monsters here yet. In the end, the biggest obstacle was probably the time limit. Chen Murong set out to explore the dungeon when his thought was beginning to reach a conclusion.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The dungeon was not vast and boundless like what he remembered in his past life. Within it, Chen Murong saw dwarf weeping willow trees scattered around the area, blocking out the landscape. All sorts of various weeds and dense vines filled the land. Thorns and thistles were equally everywhere. Several fresh leaves and small purple flowers covered the ground. With each step, Chen Murong''s footprints have been left behind.


    After a short walk, he suddenly heard something. Murong involuntarily glanced at the grassy area in front of him. The grass was almost half as tall as him. Such thick and tall bushes really could hide a beast. Taking a deep breath, Murong stood there and held his pistol with his right hand.


    "Black wolf, a beast of the soldier rank, level 2 detected," the announcement from the system sounded in his mind when the wolf has suddenly shown up.


    The past life information regarding this black wolf came to Murong''s mind. It seemed he would be able to kill this black wolf with this pistol. Level 2 soldier rank beast was still able to be easily killed with a gun.


    When the wolf got closer to him within five meters, he pointed the gun at the wolf and fired several subsequent shots.


    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"


    The ferocious wolf froze its movement and stared at him in shock. It let out a disgruntled roar and quickly continued moving its body toward Murong.


    "Bang!"


    "Thud."


    Another bullet has been fired, piercing into the wolf''s head with thunderous power and speed. With a following bone-crunching sound, this time, the wolf was pushed back, fell down to the ground, and collapsed. The wolf''s head bones had already been shattered, and its blood had already begun leaking out from its several wounds. Its four limbs quivered momentarily, then grew still.


    Even though, Murong has not gotten an apocalypse ability yet. Just based on his weapon and experience, killing a simple wolf was not a tough feat for Murong.


    However, suddenly, there was another howl coming from behind his back. As this new howl echoed, it was responded with different howls from all directions.


    "This isn''t just one wolf...it''s a pack!" Murong thought.


    He felt frightened, and his body became stiff. Hearing those howls getting closer and closer, Murong couldn''t help but turned his face and looked. He swept his gaze across the area, and as he did, it was met by several pairs of cold, shiny black eyes hidden in the darkness.


    Indeed, approximately twenty meters away, a pack of wolves with black fur was carefully approaching him. Due to the density of the local bushes, Murong could not notice this wolf pack earlier.


    Murong''s heart immediately tightened while he cautiously looked in all directions.


    "This is getting dangerous."


    "Hoooowl!"


    One of them suddenly let out a high pitch howl and charged forward Murong. He fired another shot at that wolf and began to run.


    "Not good!" Murong thought. His forehead and back were all drenched with cold sweat. His heart also tightened in his chest. He hurriedly continued to run at a breakneck speed. However, just at the beginning of his sprint, he stopped. The wolf pack had already surrounded him. He had nowhere else to go.


    The wolves showed their white fangs and snarled at Murong. At the same time, he noticed there were a big tall tree and a huge stone dome monument nearby.


    Without another escape plan, he quickly climbed up on that tree. In terms of climbing ability, wolves were definitely inferior to humans. Murong agilely rosed on that tall tree while the pack of wolves howled with fury as they circled around. He then jumped on top of the stone monument, looking down on those wolves.


    All the wolves were staring at him as if waiting for him to come down.


    However, there was no way that Murong would satisfy that desire of the wolf pack. Now, Murong had such a high vantage point, and he was able to see all members of the wolf pack. Murong stared downward at them and lifted out a rifle behind his back.


    "I''m not afraid of you guys now."


    He looked through his scope image to find his first target, gauging a distance, adjusting the hold-up, and, then, squeezed the trigger, issuing a death sentence to that wolf.


    The whole process took less than 5 seconds. After several years of the gun firing in his previous life, his gun handling skill was practically the hand of God. Each shot that he fired had never been missed. Some wolves had been killed instantly. Some wolves fought against the penetration of the bullet ¨C that was the penetration of death itself but still were eventually in vain. Some wolves ran around hiding behind trees. The last injured wolf frantically fled in terror when there were no other wolves left. He saw that wolf and fired his last shot.


    Finally, he had killed them all!

 Chapter 8: Finding the golden key

    After getting rid of the wolf pack, there was practically nothing dangerous left. Murong jumped back onto the tree and climbed down. He walked straight to those wolf bodies. Arriving at one of the wolf corpses, he held the knife in his hand and chopped at the wolf''s head. Murong felt as though the knife in his hand had struck a tough and sturdy wood. He was barely able to cut its head through, causing blood to surge out everywhere.


    He continued to open the wolf''s heads and searched for a while, but he could not find what he was looking for.


    "Perhaps, there is not enough time and spiritual energy in the air to form a spiritual nucleus yet," Murong thought to himself as he carefully kept his gaze on the other wolves'' dead bodies.


    He then moved away from that area to continue searching for the golden key.


    After walking for a period of time, he realized that this mission was not as easy as he thought it was. There was no obvious place that he could think of to find that key. There were also a lot of leaves covered on the land. What made it even more difficult was the constant need to pass through pre-existing thorns and brush. He had to carve out a path several times now.


    Almost 10 hours had been passed, and even though he was looking without rest, he still did not find what he was looking for. He cut everything that got in his way down. The problem was that he had not found any clues yet as to where the secret key was hidden. He had already searched the entire wildland, but he couldn''t find anything that seemed to be out of place. Suddenly, he realized about the big tall tree that helped him escape from the wolf pack. The wolf pack was a little bit odd. It seems they were insisting on staying in that area, like guarding something despite he already had the most obvious advantage.


    "Ding! You will be summoned to the entrance of the dungeon in 1 hour," the system informed him in his mind.


    Murong rushed toward the area that he fought with the wolves. After some time, he arrived at the site. He carefully examined the tree and stone monument. Unexpectedly, he found the secret compartment on the side of a big tree.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Crack!" The sound of detaching of a secret compartment from the tree trunk by Murong''s knife.


    He then opened that secret compartment box and found the golden key inside.


    "Ding! Congratulations! Mission accomplished. You have found the golden key."


    "Ding! Congratulations! You are the first person in this world to successfully finish the dungeon run. You will be received an additional bonus. You can choose two out of three rewards from finishing this dungeon."


    "Ding! Please select two choices from below


    1. Awakening spiritual sense


    2. Soldier rank random item


    3. Job changing: Hunter (The font color is ranged from red to green. The green color means you are perfectly suitable for this job. You could change your job on the red color font, but it is not recommended.)


    Murong looked at those choices and saw the "Hunter" font appeared in red color. The same as his previous life, he was not suitable for a hunter job. He selected options 1 and 2 in his mind. After the system recognized his choices, he had been warped back to the dungeon''s entrance and successfully done what he aimed for.


    At the entrance of the dungeon, suddenly, a fine-looking young man appeared out of thin air. Evidently, it was our protagonist, Murong. After surveying his own body, he went back to his cave and wrapped up his equipment. There was no point in trying to enter the dungeon again. In his past life, it was well-known that, once the dungeon is cleared, it would be reset, and no one could enter the dungeon for 24 hours.


    He looked at the space ring, the new item on his finger that he got from the system. He thought of an item''s status in his mind, and the blue transparent screen popped up in the air in front of his face.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Space ring


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: A


    Active skill: Storage (The user can store and take out any unliving things from this inventory. The limit volume is 10 cubic meters.)


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    "This is not bad," Murong thought.


    The space ring was considered rare at the beginning of the apocalypse, and this was even A grade space ring. He felt he was lucky this time.


    He thought of activation of the space ring in his mind, and all his equipment vanished out of thin air.


    Now, it is time to go home.


    -------------------------------------------------------------

 Chapter 9: Future influential people

    *** Murong''s point of view. ***


    It had been a long tire day. My shirt was uncomfortably dirty and wet. The jeans were bloody and tattered. The man who sat in the seat opposite to mine in the pod kept staring at me from time to time with a questioning peek. So, I had just to gaze back at him and pretended to be nothing wrong with me. I sighed.... I really want to be at home, to undress, to get into the shower, and to be where no one can look at me.


    After three hours trip, I finally arrived home. I undressed, took my warm shower, and had a late lunch with my little brother, Huilong. Then, I stored my clothes and a couple of extra pencils for my exam tomorrow in my newly obtained space ring and prepared to go back to Zerento city.


    One might ask why I would like to go back to Zerento city? The apocalypse seems to be inevitable, and it seems pointless to attend school. Does this make any sense?


    Those were good questions, and they actually offered valid arguments. In fact, I wanted to come back to school but not for "school." I would like to meet and talk to my close friends. For some, I knew from my past life that I would not be able to meet them again after graduation.


    After disembarking at the Zerento teleportation station, I took a bus and went directly to my dormitory. I unpacked my stuff, had a quiet dinner, and went to bed, expecting to meet all of my friends tomorrow.


    Monday morning, 15th Jan 2024. On this day, there was no major incident on the Blue planet. It was just one of many ordinary days. However, for some people, this particular day was a joyful day, the end of semester day. For some people, it was a nightmare, the beginning of final examination days. On this day, the students in my year would take a comprehensive written exam in several fields. Although the exam score would not be used to judge whether that student would pass or fail, it would determine the chance of being selected into high-ranking universities.


    I woke up around 6 O''clock in the morning, washed my face, and got dressed. I stumbled down the stairs to the main floor in the dormitory building. After making my way through a few corridors and taking a few turns, I saw a neat, minimal, organized, and silver-chrome cafeteria. It was 7 O''clock, breakfast time, so most people had already come to eat and drink in the cafeteria hall. I was looking around to find my friends and, on one table, I found five of my close friends were having breakfast and watching an election campaign-news brief on "Daily voices," a popular news channel on television.


    I bought my breakfast, walked straight to that table, and sat there next to one of my best friends, Liu Wu.


    As I sat, they were discussing what they had been watching on television. It was three days before the presential election of Thilon kingdom, located on the continent''s west side. Hal Freeman, the reporter, who was clearly sided with the more recent populist party, continued to attack the opposing side.


    "Of the two runnings, I am hoping that the old man will defeat this self-centered businessman, Josh Luther." One of my friends, Will Chuke, who was a supporter of Bell Kennegy''s party, said.


    Continuing watching Josh Luther and Bell Kennegy rallied on television, Will was hit by how large and enthusiastic Luthor''s crowds appeared.


    "I just don''t believe this channel," Will said. Will thought that the mainstream news organizations were biased, and he believed in the theory that I knew some people would find them implausible. He told us before that there were deliberate moves by Luther corporation to bribe all the media and cheat the election results.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I plucked a can of orange juice soda from my breakfast tray, tapping my lips as I contemplated Will''s theory. In my previous life, at this very table, I was very skeptical about his theory because money could not buy everything. However, in the future that I knew, Josh Luther won the election. As a newly elected president, he declared the union of Thilon kingdom and Laputa kingdom, adopting the Temple of light as the main religion. I, now, was kind of wonder whether there were any secret assistances from either Laputa kingdom or the Temple of light side?


    "Politics aside, Josh Luther was not a bad choice," I observantly thought.


    This man carried his kingdom through the apocalypse period magnificently, even his domain was not famous for its military strength. In fact, it ranked the least of all five kingdoms in the continent. Thinking of that, I was glancing at another table located just a few tables away from our table. I saw Elon Luther, the future famous figure and the son of Josh Luther, was talking to Draco Smith, the imminent prime cardinal of Temple of light, nickname "The son of light." I did not take notice of their interactions before in my previous life, but they seem to be in a good relationship with each other. He, then, gazed around that table and surprisingly found that all other people at that table were the future prominent figures in the continent.


    Beginning with that beautiful and sexy-looking lady, sitting next to Draco, Veronica Rambell, she would be the upcoming light healing high priest for Temple of light. Sitting next to her was Alexander Kolovsky, a son of Blackstone city governor. He would be practically the calling shorts in the western part army of Arcadia kingdom, located on the north side of the continent


    On another side of the table, Elon was sitting next to two young men. One is Takuya Kimura, the future notorious slave imprint master. After high school graduation, he went back to take care of his dead father''s underworld business. When the apocalypse came, not only did he not suffer, but his influence grew at an exponential rate due to his enormous supply and terrifying skill, slave contract.


    As for the last one, it was the second young master of Ye''s family of Xia kingdom, Ye Shaokui. The Ye family was responsible for annihilating my family in my previous life. I did not feel good toward any of their descendants. I vowed in my heart that, in this life, I would make Ye family suffered.


    After a short pondering on the people at Draco''s table, I concentrated back on my own table. Even if they were future renowned people, they were not related to me nor my friend. One particular was even a blood enemy.


    In my daily life in school, I often hung out with my usual mates, Liu Wu, John Flanigan, Vasily Razalev, Will Chuke, and Aika Miura. Among these five friends, in my past life, I was able to meet two of them again after graduation from school. One of the guys was definitely, of course, Liu Wu. Liu Wu''s family was a prominent grain merchant in the Xia kingdom. After the apocalypse, food had become the most valuable asset, and Liu''s family influence was expanding at a staggering rate. However, as of now, their family was still small.


    Another one was, surprisingly, Vasily Razalev, whose hometown was very far from my hometown. Geographically, we had less chance to meet each other again. I met this young woman again when I fled from the Xia kingdom capital. Her family business was related to hot and cold weapons. Her family sheltered both me and my uncle, Chen Fang, when we were in Arcadia kingdom.


    As for the others, I had never heard a piece of news about Aika, and it was as if she mysteriously disappeared. And by the time I heard the news about Will and John, unfortunately, they had long been dead.


    In Blue planet''s education system, after the children finishing their high school courses, they had to take the final comprehensive examination. After that, they would have to obtain the working experience, usually with the student''s family, and write a report. Then, they would have to prepare their statement of purpose, working report, family''s profile, three letters of recommendation, together with the final comprehensive examination score as the university admission package and submit it in August. The university would make a decision and announce the admission result in December. All students would begin their next university classes in January next year


    In this life, I planned to invite them to visit my family during the transition break in September. I could try to improve their skills at that time. Then, in this life, all of them would have a higher chance to be alive and well.

 Chapter 10: Invitation to Chens family house

    The breakfast and conversation continued for about half an hour. I had not had time to bring the vacation plan up to my friends yet since the start of the exam was quite near.


    "Guys, I have to be excused. I need to leave first. I have to memorize the remaining of my memos before the exam," Vasily interrupted.


    "Sure. Actually, should we all get going?" John promptly asked.


    "Sure," everyone agreed.


    All of us cleared the table, stood up, and moved back to our individual rooms to prepare for the exams to come.


    The whole final comprehensive exam took about two days. It had three sections, Mathematics, Socials, and Sciences, respectively. Each one lasted about three and a half hours with an hour lunch break between Mathematics and Socials.


    At around 9 O''clock, all students in the Life Science Academy lined up in front of their exam rooms. Murong entered his exam room with ease.


    After three hours of solving algebra equations, analyzing dimensions of different geometries, and deduction using logic, most students had been filled with perplexities and confusions.


    On the contrary, Murong appeared to quite relax and had been having an enjoyable lunch while most students concentrated on the last minutes'' revision for the next subject.


    Frankly, this exam was not so difficult and serious for Murong since he was always in the top three of the class, and he looked at some tough problems that he remembered beforehand. Although he would not be able to remember some of the details in the subject to get the best score, he would still be able to answer most of the questions. Actually, the apocalypse would get underway even before the beginning of the university. Who would still care how much score you would get?


    After another exam in the afternoon, Murong was waiting for his friends in front of the exam room.


    "How is it?" Murong curiously asked all of his friends as he saw them walking straight to him. Most of them made a crumpled expression. Especially Will, he had a completely soured and angry face.


    "Who the hell designed this exam? Don''t ask me!" Will exclaimed.


    "Great. Very great," Liu Wu said.


    "I have never come out of the exam room with this much happiness," Liu Wu continued to respond with a relaxed smile on his face. This answer called for everyone to turn their heads to Liu Wu with a surprised look.


    Vasily Razalev, the girl who was always the first in our year astonished. She was afraid that she did not do well enough.


    "You must perfectly prepare this time. I think it is difficult," Aika hesitantly said. Usually, Liu Wu''s score was only average.


    "Who said I could do it?" Liu Wu asked back.


    "But...," Vasily interrupted.


    "Oh, what did you mean then?" Murong suddenly asked.


    "I said great because, definitely, no one would be able to answer all those ridiculous questions. For the first question, please list all the laws relating to import and export regulations in all the empires. You guys know. We only studied law subjects for a week. Who would think that we have to remember all those details? The second question is even more insane. Please write the history of five countries on the continent. Who could finish those within four hours! And there were even more than 10 questions in the exam!" Liu Wu continued to shamelessly narrate his claims.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "Shameless bastard," Vasily frown. She got astonished by nothing.


    Liu Wu ignored her. He continued to criticize the exam questions jokingly.


    Vasily was very furious, especially at the person who is more likely to fail than other people in the group. This shameless guy hurriedly sang a song, deliberately irritating and provoking her.


    "It is okay to fail the exam. It is a miracle to pass the exam."


    ...


    Cuz I''m happy, yes I am, happy for today,


    Take this exam and burn it


    Let it kill everyone away,


    And be happy, happy! and others'' score will also go away


    I know it ain''t easy but that''s okay.


    Cause no one cannnnn


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ...


    At the same table in the morning, the same group of people was eating their dinners together.


    "Anyway, what are you revising for? You have already known it all," Will asked Vasily during dinner. She had been reading a note in Sciences while she was having dinner with them.


    Vasily, the girl, who was always at the top in our year, frowned.


    "What am I revising for? Are you mad? You do know that we need to get good scores to get into the genius class in university, don''t you?


    Will rolled his eyes like we all knew you would get a good score anyway.


    Unfortunately, Aika also seemed to be thinking along the same line as Vasily. They, now, submerged themselves in a large pile of several packs of sheets and books.


    Murong gave up his idea to ask his friends to come to his house during vacation today. It was hard to bring a discussion about visiting and relaxing at his family house (Or training?) with Vasily and Aika next to you, reciting several Physics formulas.


    With the unconscious yawning, Murong has excused himself to go back to sleep.


    On the second day, Murong met Vasily and Aika with their light-black eyes. It seemed they felt a little nervous before the test and could not sleep well.


    "Good luck to both of you," Murong said to both Vasily and Aika.


    "Thank you. You too, Murong!" Both of them replied.


    The last exam was about Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Murong, whose father was a famous engineer, loved Sciences the most of all the subjects. He could answer every question clearly and very fast. He even finished it an hour before the exam end time.


    After the exam, Murong was waiting for his friends in the common room in the dormitory. Vasily and Aika were the first ones to come back. They always like to go through their exam papers with Murong afterward, and everybody knows it. Liu Wu, John, and Will thought this was a bad idea, and they did not want to revisit the unpleasant experience again. So, they took their time wandered down to the Co-op to get snacks before joining them.


    "No more revision!" Will shouted happily after coming back with Liu Wu and John.


    "What do you guys think about going to my house this summer?" Murong, finally, had a chance to ask his friends.


    "My father has finished building prototypes of our new game system. I can get all of us in the Alpha test with the company employees. I guarantee it will be really cool!" Murong continued to persuade his friends with his advertisement.


    "That sounds great!"


    "I am looking forward to it!"


    As expected, Liu Wu was the first to accept the invitation, followed by Will and a short answer "yes" from John with a nod.


    "I don''t know..." Aika hesitated. Her family was not well off like others. They only had just a few fishing boats. She thought she would be home helping her family.


    "Come on...you can bring your brother too... I know he likes to play games very much," Murong continued to convince her.


    Aika thought of her gaming addict brother. She, at last, agreed to Murong''s proposal.


    "Ok," she smiled.


    "But, we could not stay there for too long, though," she added.


    "Sure. A week would be okay," Murong replied with a smile on his face.


    "What about you, Vasily?" Murong asked.


    "Need to ask? If we all go, I will definitely go."


    "It settles then!"


    After that, we talked with each other about our summer plan and wished each other well.


    "See you guys over the summer, then!" Murong said.


    "Bye!"


    After that, I went back to my room and packed. I looked around the room that I spent for three years studying one last time and left...

 Chapter 11: Convince the family

    A crescent moon hung in the sky, shining scattered yellow light around the city. It was already nighttime when Murong arrived home.


    When Murong opened the door, he unexpectedly spotted his uncle Fang in the common room.


    "Hi, uncle Fang!" Murong greeted.


    "Hello, Murong. Long time no see," Chen Fang replied with a chuckle.


    "Welcome back home, young master Murong," Chen Gui also greeted Murong on the side.


    "Uncle Gui, are my parents also back home?"


    "Yes, they are both at home."


    "Good. Could you tell my parents, grandpa, grandma, and all of my siblings to come to the living room? I have something to discuss with them."


    "You too, uncle Fang," Murong added.


    "Sure, young master," Uncle Gui responded and walked to other rooms in the house.


    Then, Chen Murong lead Chen Fang to Chen family''s living room.


    "Murong, what would you like to discuss with everyone?"


    "Let''s wait, uncle Fang. It might as well tell every people at the same time about this."


    "Alright."


    After 15 minutes, each family member gradually came one by one, and, at last, all family members were here in the room.


    "Murong, what would you like to discuss with everyone?" Chen Jinnan asked the same question that Chen Fang asked 15 minutes ago.


    "I would like to tell you guys something, but please bear with me and keep an open mind."


    Chen Murong began narrating his story. He told them that, approximately one year later, the world as we know it today would cease to exist, marking the beginning of the apocalypse era.


    On the first day of the apocalypse, the eclipse would envelop the entire continent creating weeklong darkness. At that time, another unexpected thing occurred. There were countless cracks happening in the air, ripping open a bright red portal connect to several completely different worlds. Those portals brought the first wave of undead creatures, the skeleton warriors.


    These creatures came in different shapes and sizes. After emerging from the portals, they did not wait a moment and began killing nearby humans. Millions of humans had been killed in minutes.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    However, these creatures were not the worst of the apocalypse. It was only the beginning. After disappearing together with the eclipse in about a week, the red portals also left behind the surging amount of dark energy in our atmosphere. This incident induced the mutation of animals and plants on the continent. Some animals suddenly increased in size overnight. Some animals grew horns or wings. Some animals could even use some special abilities.


    In addition, while everyone was still celebrating the end of the weeklong darkness, the zombies appeared. The scientists theorized that not only animals evolved but also the virus. This evolved virus turned those people who died during the first week to be zombies.


    It turned out that these new zombies rapidly became an even more serious problem. As it had been found out that even the slightest scratch from zombies would make one infected with the zombie virus and turned to be one of them within 48 hours. Among the remaining people that survived, the majority of them turned into zombies this way.


    Chen grandparents, Chen parents, Chen uncle, and Chen siblings were all silent and did not express their opinions regarding his story. Although a few among them thought his words were unbelievable or even... ridiculous, they could not bear to interrupt when they saw Murong''s anxious and determined look.


    Chen Muyong did not stop. He continued to narrate his story.


    Fortunately, our humanity had not lost all hope yet. During the second day of the apocalypse, a sound from nowhere had rung up on everyone''s mind.


    "Ding! Congratulations! You have survived the transition phase of your world. Your world spiritual energy has reached the criteria, and it has been connected to the rest of the universes. Your world will begin to accumulate more spiritual energy at improving speed and evolve. In order to survive, you have to find your world dungeons and accept the job."


    "Ding! Your physique has been upgraded, and your spiritual sense has been awakened. You have been granted a temporary job, the apprentice. Your body cannot continue to accumulate more spiritual energy or evolve until you can get a permanent job."


    "Ding! You can view your status by thinking, ''Please show my status'' in your mind."


    This sound later has been referred to as the sound from the system created by "God''s spirit," who had power beyond our understanding.


    God''s spirit had created a system that allowed humans to develop themselves and gain abilities like a video game.


    Unfortunately, unlike those mutated animals, plants, skeletons, and zombies, the original human evolution rate was very slow. Therefore, under the threat of these creatures, the hope of human survival was very slim.


    However, human communities also have found a way to expedite human evolution. It was found that, after the apocalypse day, all creatures on the continent had a spiritual nucleus formed in their brains. This nucleus had a shape of a transparent pellet with the color dictated by its corresponding attributes. The higher the level of the nucleus, the larger it is. Humans could absorb this nucleus. The more the absorption of the nucleus, the stronger of body, soul, and ability grew. Humans, then, had a chance to fight for the right to exist in this world.


    All family members were stunned and did not know what to say.


    Seeing that everyone was quiet, Chen Murong responded with a sad smile.


    "I know that you guys probably don''t believe me, but what I said was true, and I have proof."


    He then spread his right palm with the space ring on his index finger and activated the ring.


    Suddenly, a familiar rifle appeared in his hand. This rifle was very long, and it was impossible for Chen Murong to hide it before.


    Seeing the rifle suddenly appeared, Chen Jinnan and others felt shocked.


    Soon, everyone was persuaded and believed in Murong''s word...

 Chapter 12: Past, future, and future of the past

    The room was utterly silent. No one would be able to utter a sound.


    Chen Jinnan took a sip of his favorite tea that he had just poured, but today, no matter how much he drank, he could not enjoy his tea.


    "What about our family back then?" Chen Fang was the first one to adapt and asked a question.


    Murong told them truthfully all about what happened, including what transpired to Huilong, his parents, his sister Yilin, his brother Dawei, and so on.


    "Are you serious? And since when did you know?" Huilong exclaimed.


    "Not long. Just a week ago," Murong indifferently replied.


    "Son, I know you show us some proofs, but do you think it will ultimately happen as predicted by your dream or whatever we will call it?" Chen Dong suddenly asked.


    "I think it will happen or at least likely to happen. I have found one dungeon already at the location where it supposed to be."


    "What do you think we should do...?" Chen Yiren hoarsely asked.


    "I think we should collect supplies such as food, plants, animals, structural metals, gasoline, weapons, and medicines. But, most important, we should build our own base. Only we have our own army, then we can ensure our family safety," Murong proposed his idea.


    During the apocalypse, the ability to protect and stand on your own was the most important. In Murong''s last life, Chen family had stayed in the capital and depended on the royal family power, which ultimately led to most family members'' demise. In this life, Murong would like to push his family to build Chen family own base and lay their foundations outside of other forces'' domains.


    Everyone was contemplating Murong''s plan and turned their faces to grandpa Chen. Although grandfather Chen had not worked for a long time, technically, he was still head of the family who made the final decision regarding the important matter. After a moment of hesitation, Chen Jinnan finally said.


    "Well, I think our family has not much of a choice. It will be unwise if we don''t consider Murong''s warning since we all saw what he could do... We should prepare ourselves. I like Murong''s suggestion, and I trust his judgment since he has a glimpse into the future. However, we have to do it cautiously. It will be political suicide if the royal family suspects us of planning rebellion."


    "That is true," Chen Fang agreed. He knew very well the danger of the situation since he worked in a government secret intelligence agency.


    "If we would like to build our own base, the location is very important. It concerned the continuation and long-term welfare of our family. Ummm...should we go back to our family territory?" Chen Dong cautiously asked.


    Chen family territory was on the Northern border of the Xia kingdom. Their territory comprised of one medium-sized city, Belleville city, and around 3,000 square kilometers of farmlands and forests. Even though their domain is not big, but it was extremely rich and populated. Belleville city was one of the two most important border cities in the north. They were a vital path connecting the Arcadia kingdom and the Xia kingdom. Vast and uncountable wealth flowed through them. It is so much that all major forces in the continent knew of their names.


    Everyone was still pondering on Chen Dong''s proposal when Chen Jinnan abruptly asked.


    "Murong, do you have some places in mind?"


    Murong had a surprising look at his grandfather and said, "Yes, grandpa. I actually have one place in mind. I have been thinking about it over these last few days. Although our Chen''s territory, as father suggested, is good, I think there is still an even better place."


    With a flick of his finger, Murong unfolded a white paper scroll on the table, revealing a map of the Pangea continent in front of everyone.


    "I think the most suitable place for building a base is here in this area," Murong replied and pointed at the Borderlands province that is located on the border of among three countries, the Laputa kingdom, the Xia kingdom, and the Goguryeo empire. Nobody had claimed this province as their territory in the past. It belonged to the kingdom.


    Upon seeing the place that Murong pointed out, Chen Dong raised his eyebrows, the confusing look emerging from his face. In fact, Chen Dong was not the only one. Chen Jinnan and Chen Fang also had a similar view as Chen Dong.


    "Why? Any specific reasons?" Chen Fang quickly asked. Murong''s words had caught him completely by surprise.


    "Of course, I naturally have some reasons for this," Murong plainly explained and took a light sip of his hot cocoa. His expression was serious but calm.


    "The area is vast and isolated with several natural barriers, such as lake, river, and mountains. It is also sparsely populated despite there were a lot of villages in the province. It is the best place to avoid skeletons and zombies at the beginning of the apocalypse since those things attracted to people. I think the area could be considered the best when it comes to strategical defense."


    Everyone looked at the map. It was well known that the Borderlands province was almost more of a forest than a human settlement. There was no big city in the area, and the area was isolated, as Murong said. The province was in the southwest corner of the Xia kingdom, and the only accessible site was an expansive grass field in the north of the province. Other sides of the region were difficult to access. There were several natural barriers along three borders.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    On the south side of the territory, there were several mountain ranges. Those mountainous ridges and numerous cliffs were bare steep rocks. The only way to connect between its southern neighbor city in the Goguryeo empire was through a large valley between the two most giant mountains. It had already been proven in the past that blocking this entrance could help to shield the territory from the invasion of the Goguryeo army centuries ago.


    On the west side of the territory, there was a large lake that was an ideal place for fish colonies, and thus some fishing and human settlements presence around this area. This calm water also housed various enchanted beautiful coral reefs along the inner area of the lake. This lake was shared between two kingdoms, the Xia kingdom, and the Laputa kingdom.


    On the east side of the territory, there was a large and clear river that constantly carried all kinds of fish and crocodiles. The water inside was not just calm but exceptionally warm and fertile. If one would like to travel to this area, it was necessary to cross a bridge to access the Borderlands territory. As long as someone built a wall on two sides of the bridge, then the threat of zombie or animal hordes would be eliminated.


    "But... isn''t it too far from other cities? The area is also not connected to any highways. It will be a challenging task to move supplies and people later, plus you will have to build the base from scratch. And why so much land? That''s like ten times of our own territory!" Chen Fang doubtfully asked with a surprising look.


    "That''s because apart from building the base, I think we should plan to provide farming space and recruit a large number of people in the future. There would be a food crisis in the future, and I plan to cultivate land and animals using our secret method to trade for other supplies," Murong replied.


    "It is the forest. Will there also be a lot of mutated animals?" Chen Dong asked with curiosity.


    "Yes, it will. However, I think we could manage them with our trained soldiers," Murong continued replying.


    "The area also plagued by bandit camps, illegal mercenaries, and thieves," Chen Fang, as one of the best intelligent agents in the kingdom, suddenly added the information.


    "Yes.... And I know it is challenging but, please...believe me, it is worth it. Also, this area, in my past life, was a strategic location that people fight to get control over it. Apart from one first-tier dungeon, there were three huge ore veins buried beneath the area, Spiritual stone vein, Energy stone vein, and Thorite vein. Those three veins were the largest veins on the continent. With that alone, it is already a sufficient reason for us to occupy this place. As long as we had this land, then even if our family made no more achievements or produced no talented soldiers, our family would still remain safe and well-provided for."


    "So, those veins were important?" Chen Jinnan asked.


    "Yes, the future apocalypse technology evolves around those materials."


    "Then, it settles," Chen Jinnan suddenly slapped the table with his right hand. He had been a little doubtful when Murong first proposed about his plan, but now, his skepticism had all vanished, and his eyes shone with determination.


    "Wait, father. How could we get this territory? I don''t think the House of Lords will approve despite the fact that the territory is poor. It is still vast and full of natural resources. Don''t even consider other two neighbor kingdom politics, even in Xia kingdom itself, how are we going to obtain this land?" Chen Dong asked.


    Although Chen family was considered a major family in the Xia kingdom, they were not high enough to influence the House of Lords'' decision. Everyone was quiet and think.


    For quite a while, Chen Murong finally proposed.


    "We exchange with our ancestral territory. We also need money. I think if we submit to the House of Lords that we would like to exchange the land for our family territory and sell the previous one, they will agree. Several people have eyed our territory, especially the royal family itself."


    It was actually a nice solution. Building a base in the wildlands would be far more difficult than building a base close to the existing city. One also had to consider that Murong would also like to have an entire military and civilian infrastructure. This was not something the Chen family liquid asset alone could sustain. The amount of capital needed to construct this base from nothing in the middle of nowhere would make even those ancient, prosperous, and wealthy families of the capital shrink back in dread. Selling their territory for money was kind of the only feasible way.


    In addition, when the apocalypse began, the trade city will not be that important anymore. Who will care about commercial tax at that time? On the contrary, due to the dense population of Belleville city, it will make the management during crisis a nightmare. Not to mention that it is also located far away in the north. It will be hard to manage and control from the Borderlands. Chen family could lose its authority over it easily over time.


    Everybody pondered about Murong''s idea and looked at Chen Jinnan. In fact, Chen Murong was not the only one thinking of exchanging Chen family''s territory rights. Although this choice was obvious and reasonable, it was still Chen ancestor territory after all. It had sentimental value. Under normal circumstances, no family would like to relocate from their ancestral ground.


    "We have to do as Murong said...Our ancestor would agree. It is only a symbol after all," Chen Jinnan eventually reached his decision.


    "However, we would have to come up with a good reason to do so. Not only will we relocate our territory, but we will also have to acquire a lot of supplies. A lot of people are going to ask why. And we cannot just tell them we would like to prepare for the apocalypse, can''t we?"


    "About that father... what about we told them about our technology city plan? Our company has long planned to develop a technology hub city. Just tell them that we think it is troublesome to negotiate with people one by one about the relocation of their houses in the current city. It might be easier to start from the beginning in other areas. Since we also need large capital and a sizable area, we decided to sell our territory to raise the capital. Our choice of land is not much to choose from since it has to be cheap and desolate. For this reason, the Borderlands would be the ideal candidate for our family," Chen Dong proposed.


    "That is actually a great idea, son," Chen Jinnan pleasantly said.


    After the matter of the family''s base was settled, the nine people had discussed for another hour before reaching a consensus about each person''s responsibility.


    Chen Jinnan would draft a proposal to submit to the House of Lords about territory relocation. Chen Fang and Chen Dawei would be responsible for recruiting the military forces and getting rid of the bandits in the Borderlands. As for gathering and collecting food, daily necessities, weapons, and military supplies, Chen Dong and Chen Yiren would be the ones who managed.


    Chen Murong would be responsible for training Chen''s family members and surveying the Borderlands to make sure that the area was still the same as his previous life. If not, Chen Jinnan will withdraw his proposal before it passes, and the family will discuss another location for the base.


    As for Chen Huilong, Chen Yawen, and Chen Yilin, they do not have any responsibilities at the moment.


    A short while later, the meeting ended. Everyone sighed before leaving the meeting room and going back to their bedrooms with the loss in their thoughts.

 Chapter 13: Family strengthening strategy (1)

    *** Murong''s point of view. ***


    It was already midnight, but I still could not sleep. The conversation with my family was still resonated in my mind. Suddenly, there was a knock at my door while I was still resting with my hands under my head.


    "Bro...have you slept yet?" The low sound had emerged during the quiet night. It was my brother, Huilong.


    "Not yet. Come in," I got up, sitting on my bed, and shouted to him.


    Huilong, who was in his white and light blue pajamas, opened the door and ran to hug me.


    "Bro, I could not sleep..." Huilong sullenly said while he was embracing my chest.


    "Why?" I asked while I patted the boy''s back in a comforting manner.


    "I am afraid..." Huilong said solemnly.


    "Don''t be afraid. Our family is well-prepared this time... I am also here with you. Just remember. I will always there for you. I will forever protect you," I comforted him softly while stroking his soft hair.


    "I know...but I also fear that we will lose someone in our family. What happens if the zombies and mutant animals are too strong?"


    "Even though they are strong, we will be stronger. We have an advantage. Our family will start training early. Those things can simply be killed one after another. There is nothing to be afraid of. As long as all of them are dead, one day, our world will regain its vitality, and everything will return to normal or perhaps... even better."


    When Huilong listened to my words, his anxiety and uneasiness had become lessened. Soon, he felt warmer in his heart, and, shortly after, a small and pleasant smile appeared on his face.


    I was smiling back at him. Then, I gently put the boy on my bed and continued to stroke the boy''s delicate hair. After that, I pulled the soft and fluffy quilt to cover the boy.


    "It''s late. You can sleep on my bed. I will sleep on the sofa beside you," I said while turning off the light. I then stood up and walked toward the sofa. Shortly, I also fell asleep and waited for the new day to come...


    -------------------------------------------------------------


    The moon was gone, and the sun was now up. It was a good refresh morning for Murong. He had woken up before Huilong. He saw that the boy was still sleeping quietly on his bed. He took a shower, got dressed in silence, and went downstairs to have breakfast in the dining room.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    In there, the maid was stirring the contents of a large soup pot on the stove, while Chen Jinnan and Chen Yawen were sitting at the table, having breakfast together. They looked up as Murong was entering the room.


    "Good morning, grandpa. Good morning, grandma," Murong greeted both of them while he was sitting down on the chair.


    "Good morning, Murong," both of them replied with a smile.


    When the maids saw Murong had been seated, they hurriedly served him the breakfast. Today''s breakfast was western style, with slices of bacon, eggs, sausages, pieces of bread, and a bowl of pork bone soup. While Murong was eating, Chen Jinnan casually asked.


    "Are we going to the dungeon at the Borderlands province right away?"


    "Not yet, grandpa. I would like to take our family members to Mount Taiyuan dungeon to awake our spiritual senses first. It is a safer dungeon. Also, I am not sure of the exact location of the Borderlands province dungeon," Murong answered thoughtfully.


    "I see," Chen Jinnan replied nonchalantly.


    Then, they continued to have breakfast together. Shortly after, other family members joined the table. After they finished their breakfast, in the late morning, Murong took his family to Mount Taiyuan in order to enter the same dungeon.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Before Gondola period


    Blue planet''s calendar ¨C 17th January 2024


    Xia kingdom ¨C Mount Taiyuan


    ...


    The whole Chen family took the same route that Murong used last time. By the time they arrived around the dungeon entrance, it was already at noon. Murong had long ago made a plan said.


    "After we finish having lunch, we will enter the dungeon."


    "Yeah! I am so hungry after a long walk. Are we going to hunt and cook something up?" Huilong exclaimed.


    "Maybe for dinner," Murong replied with a wink.


    "For lunch, I have packed some food already," Murong said and brought nine boxes of lunch out of his space ring. He distributed lunch boxes and a bottle of water to everyone.


    During lunch, Chen Fang casually asked.


    "Are we all going into the dungeon at the same time?"


    "No. We can''t. Only 5 people can enter the dungeon at the same time," Murong answered.


    "Are all the dungeons like that?" Chen Fang continuously asked.


    "No. No. It depends on the dungeon. I have just known the condition of this one because I had just entered it last Saturday. I think it is safe to assume that the dungeon has not yet evolved."


    "Can dungeon evolve?" Chen Dong followed up on Murong''s explanation.


    "Definitely. However, there are some conditions that it has to meet first."


    "What are the conditions?" Chen Dong curiously asked.


    "Ummm. It depends on how much spiritual energy it could accumulate and how many times it has been cleared."


    "I see. So, who will enter the dungeon on the first group?"


    "I think it should be me, Dawei, uncle, dad, and grandpa. The reason is simple. We have more fighting experience than the rest, especially Dawei and uncle."


    "Ummm. It makes sense," Chen Fang casually agreed.


    After lunch, they divided the tasks. Apart from five of them that would go into the dungeon, the rest of the people would set up a camp.


    Shortly, five people assembled together in front of the dungeon entrance. In the first few years of the apocalypse, there was still no team function yet. Not to mention, this was before the apocalypse period. Therefore, the people who entered the dungeon would automatically set to be in the same team as first come, first serve. If there were more people than the dungeon limit, it would deny access to extra people.


    Immediately five people stood in a circle while Murong explained and demonstrated how to activate a dungeon. Soon, they all vanished and appeared in a completely different environment.

 Chapter 14: Family strengthening strategy (2)

    The dungeon was still in the middle of the forest as Murong encountered it last time. However, it seemed to be a little bit larger. This large area was full of all kinds of trees and poison plants. When the last people in the team appeared, the usual dungeon information sound rang up in everyone''s mind.


    "Ding! Welcome to Chimera dungeon."


    "Dungeon class: Soldier."


    "Dungeon type: Team dungeon. 5 people limit."


    "Dungeon objective: Finding a golden key within 12 hours of the time limit."


    "Dungeon time ratio: 1:6."


    "Dungeon fail''s penalty: Spiritual energy accumulation reduced by 10%."


    "You will be given the freedom to act as you please upon completion of the dungeon objective. You can hunt as many enemies as you wish, but there will be no reward on the hunt."


    Everyone listened cautiously to the system''s announcement while five of them were standing next to the dungeon portal.


    Chen Dong curiously asked, "Soldier class?"


    "Yes. From what I know, there are a total of 14 classes, Emperor, High king, Prince, Archduke/ Archduchess, Grand Duke, Duke, Viceroy, Marquis/Marquess, Count, Viscount, Earl, Baron/Baroness, Knight, and Soldier. This class system is also applied to our job hierarchy. With each step in increasing the class, you will get one additional skill for your job. Everyone will begin with Soldier class at the beginning of the apocalypse," Murong plainly clarified.


    After an explanation about the class system, Murong had signaled the team and moved to a higher area to observe the surrounding. The dungeon had not changed much from the last time he entered. He noticed a pack of the same type of wolves not too far away.


    "This could be a problem. There are at least forty wolves in this area. We won''t be able to resist them if they come at once," Chen Fang counted the number of the wolves through his binocular while he was looking around.


    "There is no problem. I have brought all kinds of hoe and shovel to dig several pits, and we can fill them with these traps," Chen Murong spoke while waving his hand. The things he mentioned suddenly appeared out of his space ring.


    "We could start digging and lure them here. With all of us five, I trust that we have the ability to shoot them down before they can reach us," Murong continued explaining with confidence.


    When they heard Murong''s plan, everyone''s eyes had lighted up.


    "That''s a good idea. Let''s do it!" Having said that, Chen Fang quickly grabbed a hoe and started digging. Soon, everyone followed.


    The plan went very smoothly. After they finished setting up the traps, Chen Jinnan used a megaphone to lure the wolves. The wolves rushed toward them at high speed. In only a few seconds, all of them had already approached their team in all directions. Quickly, the wolves fell into the traps one after another.


    At this time, about a dozen wolves had successfully avoided the traps. They had to kill these wolves before the wolves could reach them. This most challenging job belonged to Murong, Chen Dawei, and Chen Fang trio, while Chen Dong acted as a backup for the last line of defense for any surprise attacks. The trio aimed their guns and fired the bullets as quickly as possible. These wolves naturally could not win against Murong once he had higher ground and sufficient distance, not to mention there were also Dawei and uncle Fang. Those two guys quickly shot several wolves down at ease. In a few minutes, all the wolves turned into several corpses.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Murong could not help but appreciated their gunning skills. Although it could not compete with any apocalyptic skills, currently, together, they definitely had an exceptional advantage over the wolves.


    After some fighting, all of the wolves were eliminated. While standing in front of the battle, Murong and the group''s faces were relieved. Nobody had been injured. Everyone sat on the ground to recover for about ten minutes before continuing to move forward to find the golden key.


    "Let''s go! We have to search the area to find the key," Murong cheerfully said.


    It took Murong and the team about three hours to find the golden key. It turned out that this time the key was hidden in one of the tree hollows. After finding the key, the end of the dungeon sound rang up.


    "Ding! Congratulations! Mission accomplished. You have found the golden key. You can choose one of the three rewards from finishing this dungeon."


    "Ding! Please select the choice from below


    1. Awakening spiritual sense


    2. Soldier rank random item


    3. Job changing: Hunter (The font color is ranged from red to green. The green color means you are perfectly suitable for this job. You could change your job on the red color font, but it is not recommended.)


    Murong told them to choose the first choice while he chose the second choice. After everyone selected their choices, the space around them began distorting, followed by a change in the surrounding environment. Ultimately, they had returned to the entrance of the dungeon on the outside world. When Murong had been warping back to the entrance of the dungeon, the message popped up in his mind.


    "Ding! Congratulations! You have received a Golden phoenix wand."


    Murong lifted his right hand to grasp it when the golden copper wand appeared in front of him. After he got a hold of the wand, the status of the item showed up in his mind.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Golden phoenix wand


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: A


    Active skill:


    1) Increase physical damage +7 level


    2) Fireball (Producing fire using the spiritual energy in the body)


    Restriction: Mage related occupation


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    After seeing the description of the wand, Murong was overjoyed. It was still an A grade equipment like last time! In general, a copy at this difficulty would only appear G, F, and E grade equipment, with only a minimal chance of a D grade equipment.


    "Murong, you seem to be delighted to get this wand," Chen Dong noticed and spoke.


    "Definitely! This magic wand is very suitable for my future mage job, and it is an A grade as well."


    Seeing everyone''s confusing face, Murong continued to explain.


    "The equipment quality can be classified into ten grades, G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS and, SSS. The lowest grade is G, and the highest grade is SSS. Normally, you get below E grade for ordinary dungeon level. Although I could not use it at the moment, in the future, it will play a significant role at the beginning of the apocalypse."


    "Okay," everyone said and nodded to signal that they understood now what he said.


    "By the way, did anyone get a green color text for the job change?"


    Chen Dawei, Chen Dong, and Chen Jinnan were shaking their heads when Chen Fang suddenly said.


    "I did. It shows I am suitable for an assassin job."


    "Umm. In my previous life, you also got an assassin job. It is no surprise here. But, let''s wait until a month before the apocalypse to change job. That way, your spiritual energy accumulation in the body should be very high, and your job should be better."


    "Yes. I think that is the best way," Chen Fang nodded in agreement. He felt his skill was good enough for anything before the apocalypse right now. He did not really need more skills for the time being, especially if that would affect his future growth.


    "Now, let''s go back to see how our camp looks like!" Murong exclaimed.

 Chapter 15: Camping and hunting

    *** Chen Huilong''s point of view. ***


    It had been almost two hours since they went to the dungeon. I was starting to get bored with nothing to do. The other women have all gone to play in the river nearby, leaving me the only boy to watch the camp. I walked back and forth around our campsite, kicking random stones on the floor, testing how far they went each time.


    During another round of stone hitting, while I was still in a random thought in my head, abruptly, I caught sight of my bro Murong''s party below the hill. After seeing them moved closer to the camp, I quickly jogged down the hill with high speed to meet them.


    "Bros, dad, uncle, grandpa, you finally come back!" I shouted excitedly.


    "Yes, we came back," Chen Jinnan answered with a smile and curiously asked back.


    "Where are your grandmother, mother, and sister?"


    "They all went to the nearby river," I answered my grandpa and led them into our little camp.


    The camp that we set was very simple. It consisted of three tents, and each tent could fit four people in it if we had to. In addition, thanks to my brother''s magic space ring, we also brought several blow-up mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags, a small generator, a mini-refrigerator, and a lot of things that we thought we would need. He even brought wooden bows and arrows for hunting.


    "Growl! Growl! Growl!" All of A Sudden there were sounds coming from them during the surveying of the camp. I quickly looked back at them and laughed. It turned out to be their stomachs'' rumbling sound.


    Murong looked at me back and said with a chuckle as he was scratching his belly. "Well, we have been in the dungeon for 12 hours. I even think that I can eat a whole horse right now."


    My father and grandfather were also smiled in agreement, as Dawei abruptly said.


    "I will go out to hunt our dinner then."


    "I will go helping you," Murong plainly said while he was picking up a bow and arrows in his hand.


    "I will go to help too!" I promptly volunteered. How could I miss such a fun activity?


    "Sure," Murong winked at me.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "I will stay here to set up a basic fence," Chen Fang timely spoke.


    Then, Dawei, Murong, and I walked out of our camp and entered the forest, starting to hunt some animals for our BBQ dinner.


    ...


    The forest around the camp was not dense, but it is full of creatures, including squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, monkeys, boars, and much more. However, they were scared of people. So, immediately after we entered the inner forest, Dawei and Murong''s behavior totally changed. They told me to follow them silently.


    Both of them moved like hunting human dogs, bending to study the ground with a swift and keen alertness. If I did not know better, I would think they had practiced together for several years.


    In the distance around me, I only heard Hammington birds were crisping and flying in the wild. However, both of my big brothers clearly were able to hear something else. They signaled me to be quieter and slowly follow them.


    From time to time, they were wandering left and right, again and again¡ªas if they were checking something. I saw Dawei bent and read the tiny, almost indiscernible tracks. In my opinion, it would be some kinds of small animals such as rabbits or squirrels. If these animals were larger, they should have more weight and have left more tracks, right?


    It had taken us an hour to find tracks that were noticeable enough. Racing a dying sun, we moved more quickly, bending and searching, anticipating what the preys that we were seeking were.


    Suddenly, Dawei raised his right hand to signal all of us to stop moving. He turned his head and looked at Murong. Murong nodded his face back as if they could communicate through their eyes. Dawei fired several arrows through the giant bush.


    "Squeak!" A sudden sound of a mysterious animal rang behind the bush.


    Dawei and Murong quickly moved to that spot. I swiftly followed them.


    We found a barking deer corpse. Murong and Dawei finished the poor deer off. After that, Dawei put the whole barking deer corpse and led us back to the camp.


    ...


    During the time that we were walking back to the camp, I asked what was still lingering on my mind.


    "How do you shoot an arrow at it without being able to see it?" I asked after we caught one barking deer that Dawei shot.


    Dawei puffed his muscular chest and proudly said, "Don''t look down on me! Your big brother is an outstanding hunter. Even I cannot see it behind the bush, but I can still smell and hear its movement. It also left a track on the land."


    Murong laughed and said. "Dawei, this is rare. You rarely brag, hahaha."


    Dawei immediately stopped boasting, but his face has been slightly reddening.


    "Look, you are blushing!" Murong continued to tease his big brother.


    "Shut up, Murong," Dawei furiously shouted.


    "HaHaHa," The sound of laughter came from both Murong and Huilong. And after getting fierce eyes from Dawei, both of them finally ceased laughing at him.


    "You both have to teach me, bro!" Huilong excitedly exclaimed.


    "Some other times," Dawei slightly chuckled and moved his right hand to mess up my hair. This must be revenge for that previous laughter.


    "Big bro!" I cried back with unsatisfactory. I spent quite a while setting up my gorgeous hair. However, he just continued with louder laughter.


    "Stop you two. The camp is ahead of us now," Murong interrupted. We then stopped teasing each other and hurriedly rushed into our camp.

 Chapter 16: Cooking in the wild

    *** Chen Murong''s point of view. ***


    We returned about three hours later from the time we left. At first, we were walking leisurely with a barking deer resting on Dawei''s shoulder until we spotted all remaining family members waiting for us around the campfire. We then sped up our pacing and greeted them. After we met the remaining family members at the camp, we briefly filled each other in on what was happened and prepared to cook the dinner with our catch.


    We divided our tasks into two groups. The men would be responsible for cutting the barking deer into several large portions, and the women would be responsible for cooking. This was not a gender bias. It had just already been proven in the past that the men in Chen''s family were usually sucked at cooking.


    Following a debate, we decide to cook three kinds of dish, stir-fry with holy basil, herbal soup, and, finally, fermented meat on skewers for BBQ.


    After the barking deer was cut and washed into several big chunks, Chen Yiren and Chen Yilin continued to chop them into smaller pieces while Chen Yawen sliced onions and garlic.


    "Oh, your knife skill is really improving," Chen Yiren praised Chen Yilin when she saw how proficient her daughter was when using a knife.


    "She really handles the knife really well," Chen Yawen glanced at the couple and immediately agreed.


    "Thank you for the praise, mom...grandma," Chen Yilin responded with a smile on her face.


    Ordinary people might think that only getting a polished and sharp knife was enough. However, every good cook knew that not only the knife''s quality was the matter, but the process of how you dealt with the knife was even more critical. The knife was not something that ended simply by moving it. You had to understand the ingredients and feel them. The final result of the cooking could vary greatly. If you failed to control your strength while cutting the meat, it could end up like a torn rag.


    After finished dicing the meat, Chen Yilin also trimmed the green peppers and the garlic that Chen Yawen prepared by the side. After that, she began crushing the garlic with the knife''s side and put them separate from the green peppers in the two small bowls.


    When the ingredients'' preparation was over, Chen Yilin spread the vegetable cooking oil on the pan. After waiting for a brief moment to get the oil to be sufficiently hot, she put in the garlic and the green peppers to fry. When these ingredients met with the oil, it made frying noises. The sizzling sound and the intriguing smell made me wondered how tasty the food would be.


    We men stared at them more closely. Though not because we were interested in cooking, we were so hungry and suffering from our stomach''s protest. When I looked at my sister, sometimes, I saw that she flinched because some of the oil got to her. However, that was unavoidable. I guess.


    Besides the frying work, my mother started to boil some water for the soup. She mixed the minced deer with garlic and sprinkled salt and made them into several small balls. After that, the next step was simple. She put them together with all kinds of herbs into the pot and waited for the soup to be ready.


    Switching back to Yilin''s cooking, it seemed the garlic and peppers were ready. She then began putting in several pieces of barking deer, oyster sauce, soy source, sea salt, and sugar over them. She also poured red wine to raise the flames a little bit and slightly flamb¨¦ it. Then she placed the holy basil after the barking deer meat was nearly cooked.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The aroma that the holy basil and the garlic gave tickled everyone''s nose.


    "I think it is going to be extremely delicious," Huilong unceremonious said with a grin on his face.


    "I guess," I replied while shrugging both of my shoulders. I also smelled the pleasant smokiness of grilled food while I was listening to the bird crisping and fire-cracking sound. Damn...I was starving, and drinking mineral water did not help me anymore. In fact, it was getting worse. It was only made me hungrier.


    "I am so hungry," Huilong murmured.


    Mom, are they nearly finished?" Huilong noisily asked. It turned out this guy was even hungrier than I was, and he was running out of patience.


    "Soon."


    We then continued to chat until the sky darkened and the women had finished their cooking.


    15 minutes later. Chen Yiren loudly announced.


    "It is almost ready!"


    As she finished speaking, the smell of the meat had already filled up the camp, causing everybody''s mouth to water. The family then assembled together around the campfire and tasting Yilin''s special BBQ source skewers and stir-fried meat.


    Even though the other dishes were ready, the BBQ skewers would take a little more time since they had just been placed on the fire. After a few more minutes, the meat was finally cooked. However, as Huilong reaching out to grasp one of the BBQ skewers, Yinlin interruptedly said.


    "Wait. Let me take a picture first," Huilong''s right hand reluctantly paused the movement, and he rolled his eyes, signaling the irritation of his sister''s annoying social media posting habit.


    Despite everyone''s craving for food, Chen Yilin still insisted on taking a photo by her cell phone.


    "I will upload it on my profile page," she proudly said.


    "Done?" Huilong impatiently asked. Actually, not just this little guy. We were also all hungry. In fact, you definitely could tell how hungry we were. Even Dawei gulped at the sight of the meat. We had had nothing solid to eat for at least twelve hours! However, we still spoiled her. I thought it was a little thing that you could tolerate for the people you love.


    "All done. Now, we can eat," Chen Yilin put her phone back into the purse. Huilong heard what his sister said and grabbed one of the streaky skewers.


    Then, immediately, Huilong gave it a bite, and he started chewing the meat on his mouth.


    "WOW! This is so delicious!" Huilong let out a gasp as he started biting his meat.


    "Hey, do you take cooking classes in secret?" The confused feelings were transmitted from his voice. Chen Yilin smirked without saying anything.


    It was at that moment that I also yelled with my eyes round.


    "Tasty! It can''t be. How could big sis make something like this?"


    "Murong, don''t you already know the future?" Sister Yilin teasingly asked me with a laugh.


    "Only important stuff, evidently."


    "You mean I am not important?" She pouted. "If that is the case, you don''t get to eat them."


    She then was trying to grab the BBQ stick from my hand, but I quickly moved it away from her.


    "Just kidding. Hahaha. But, honestly, you have never brought this up in the past life. I guess because we didn''t have a camping trip in the past life." I quickly added before I lost the BBQ stick.


    She seemed to be calmer with my answer.


    Chen Yiren added. "Your sister took a cooking class at the king''s palace. I don''t know why either. She asked me to use my connections in order to be there and learned with other princesses."


    "Oh, that''s not a typical you. Sis, be honest. Why you go to the cooking class?"


    "Secret," Chen Yilin briefly answered. Instead of telling her real reasons, she continued to click her tongue and zip her lip.


    "Never mind," I said.


    I then continued to focus on eating the BBQ meat on my stick. The feeling I got when I chewed the meat was superb. Yilin''s BBQ source''s unique flavor seemed to touch my heart. I savored the hot meat juices in my mouth slowly.


    The softness of deer meat seems to come from baking soda and white eggs that my sister used for resting the meat. I also saw her put ginger, chopped garlic, soy sauce, red wine, sugar, celery, tomatoes, and lemon juice in there, from what I could tell.


    Her stir-fry barking deer with holy basil was also exceptional. On top of the basil''s distinctive flavor, the meat on my mouth produced the Maillard Reaction, creating a sweet aroma that enhanced the feeling. Simply said, this dish was also very well done.


    I looked around and saw that everyone had cheerful expressions as they enjoyed the meal.


    This was the perfect meal!

 Chapter 17: Dead or not Dead?

    *** Chen Murong''s point of view. ***


    "Acheeew!" Huilong sneezed very hard and rubbed his nose. The wind took some of the smoke in his direction and irritated his face. If you noticed, his eyes also began tearing now.


    "Aahh, who cares! I''m hungry as hell!" Huilong cried and went further to the grilled site to get his second BBQ stick. While he was doing that, uncle Chen Fang suddenly asked.


    "Come to think of it. What will happen if we die in the dungeon? Would our spiritual energy accumulations be reduced by 10%, as the system told us?"


    I paused my eating and answered. "No, uncle. That will be the case if we fail to find the key or decide to leave the dungeon early by activating the portal on another side. If our spiritual senses have already been awakened, we will lose our spiritual senses and need to be reawakened again. If we haven''t awakened yet, we will die."


    "You mean we will be really dead?!" Huilong was quite shocked upon hearing this. At first, he thought it was like the online game that he played where everyone could be revived and sent to restart outside of the dungeon.


    "Yes, you will die for real," I said to verify the statement I made before.


    "Then, if we enter the dungeon and awaken again, does it mean we will have an additional life a second time?" Uncle Chen Fang continued asking to confirm his assumption.


    "Yes, and you could have third, fourth, and so on... That is also why the "Awakening spiritual sense" is always listed as one of the rewards. Otherwise, there would be no sense to have that choice to choose in the first place since everyone would be automatically awakened at the beginning of the apocalypse. In the future, if you take a risk on a more difficult dungeon and die, most people will go back to a much easier dungeon to reawaken their spiritual senses first before reattempting the difficult ones." I clarified and continued to add the warning.


    "However, this rule is only applied in the dungeon, though. If we die outside of the dungeon, we will go to the afterlife realm for good."


    "I see." Uncle Chen Fang noddingly replied.


    At this time, some family members had almost finished their meals. After gulping down a cup of apple juice, Chen Yawen wiped her mouth and said. "So, it will be our turn tomorrow?"


    "Yes, grandma. For tomorrow, it will be me, Dawei, uncle, mom, and you." I replied.


    Huilong grabbed some tissues to wipe BBQ source from his nose and said. "Ahhh. It is not my turn yet?"


    "Your turn will be next," I said with a smile on my face.


    Chen Dong cleared his throat and said. "We will all have a chance to go in anyway. What is the rush?"


    Huilong nodded with that response, but he was still pouting. He did not want to went in last. He knew what his dad meant, but he still felt a little bit unsatisfied. Somehow, he was always the latest in his family. But he can''t complain, can he? He thought.


    So, the dinner was continued for about half an hour while the sun was setting down. The sunset that evening was spectacular, though. After an enjoyable BBQ, my family and I wrapped up the eating site and departed to our tents to rest.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    .....


    .....


    The next morning, as arranged yesterday, the next group that entered the dungeon was Chen Murong, Chen Dawei, Chen Fang, Chen Yawen, and Chen Yiren. Before seeing the wolf''s number on the second round of dungeon, Murong actually would like to bring Huilong and Yilin along too instead of Dawei and uncle Fang. However, after seeing a significant increase in the number of the wolf, he decided to play it safe for now. That was why he told his family about the order to go into the dungeon this way. With Dawei and uncle Fang, there should be no danger. His family only has to stay here longer for two more days.


    This decision also turned out to be correct later...


    The second dungeon clearing had a good result. Not only was no one injured in the process, but they also got a few nice items. They got three non-limit occupation artifacts that could be used right now. Thinking of that, Murong recalled the details of the three things in his mind.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Purple wolf leather shoes


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: D


    Active skill: Increase movement speed +4 level


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Purple wolf leather belt


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: D


    Passive skill: Increase spiritual defense +4 level


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Purple wolf leather hat


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: D


    Active skill: Increase spiritual attack +4 level


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    These were not superb items per se, but they were good enough for the beginner. They could give him an edge advantage over the adversary or help him escape a dangerous situation.


    So far, everything had proceeded as planned. But at the third dungeon run, there was an unexpected event. The dungeon had a major transformation! He knew that the dungeon would eventually upgrade, but it evolved faster than he anticipated.


    "Ding! Silver wolf, a beast of the soldier rank, level 5 detected." The usual system''s announcement sounded in the Murong group''s mind when the silver wolf suddenly showed up in their sights with shiny fur.


    "What! This is bad." Murong spoke with a worried face and signaled everyone to retreat quietly. He then continued to explain to the rest about this beast after their group was far enough from it.


    "This is a level 5 beast. Compare to level 2 beast, black wolf, they are significantly different. Our gun would not be able to cause a substantial injury in its body. While our bullets could penetrate its skin, it will disintegrate, and its wound will heal quickly. It seems the dungeon is evolved due to our previous clearings. Though, it is too fast than what I remember."


    "Then, how will we kill it?" Dawei promptly asked.


    "The dungeon would not give us an impossible task. Usually, there would be a natural enemy of this wolf or something that could make this wolf weaker in the dungeon. It is the rule of stable nature ecology."


    "Here, I have several silver bullets. If we mixed these bullets with the potion from Wolfbane and Moonwort, these bullets should be able to penetrate its skin and slow its disintegration. These two plants should be here somewhere. We could separate into two groups and try to look for them. Let''s say about 1 hour, and we will regroup?"


    "Sound good, but how are they look like?" Chen Fang asked for more details.


    "Wolfbane has leaves that are rounded, and it is palmately divided into 4-6 well-lobed segments. It has purple flowers that are helmet-shaped, and it can grow up from the floor from 1 foot to 1 meter tall. As for Moonwort, it is small, with fleshy roots, and reproduces by spores shed into the air. One part of the leaf is fernlike, and the other carries the clusters of sporangia or spore cases." Murong slightly paused and added after seeing some confusing faces. "Basically, you guys are looking for a big purple flower plant and a small green plant with a lot of spores."


    "That is easier to understand," Huilong said with a chuckle.


    "Any questions?" Murong asked the team, and they all shook their faces as responses.


    "Since there is no question, let''s begin finding the plants," Murong concluded and led the way to survey the area around.

 Chapter 18: Silver wolf - Thunder wolf!

    After Murong''s group separated into two teams, it did not take a lot of time until Murong''s team eventually found one of the plants that they were looking for. The beautiful but yet deadly to the wolf flower. Murong reached out his hand to pick all of them in the area into his space ring before they moved on to find more of those plants.


    "These are Wolfbanes," Murong said. "They have a certain corrosive effect on the wolf," he explained to Huilong and Yilin when they walked to another area to find another main plant, Moonwort.


    From what Murong recalled, Moonwort usually liked shade areas with high humidity. So, they moved closer to the water source nearby and searched the ground that was located under the shadow of the big trees. And there, they found those Moonwort plants. They were all here...


    Murong''s team then helped each other digging up these fern-like plants from the ground and washed them with the water from the pond. Not long, they got enough of these plants to make a certain amount of potion. Then, they decided to go back to meet with Chen Fang and Chen Dawei.


    On another side, Chen Fang and Chen Dawei couple''s situation was not much different than Murong''s situation. They got these plants that they were searching for. These plants were, fortunately, very easy to find. Only 30 minutes passed; they had already found a bunch of them.


    "What are the next steps?" Chen Fang intriguingly asked after he and Dawei regrouped with Murong''s team.


    Murong laughed and said, "Making potion, of course."


    "So, you know alchemist techniques? Are you, perhaps, an alchemist?" Chen Fang continuously asked.


    "An alchemist?" Murong thought a little while and laughed, "Amateur alchemist, I guess."


    "The real alchemist profession would be able to do much more than I did here. They would be able to enhance or modify the potion properties with their spiritual techniques. What we do here is only mixing the already toxic plants and use them," added Murong.


    After Murong answered his uncle''s question, they all went silent for a short period of time. Only the sound of cutting the plant roots, grinding the ingredients, and making potion could be heard.


    When Murong finished mixing the Wolfbane and Moonwort together, they effectively made a total of nine full bottles of liquid potions. They then coated these potions on the silver bullets and waited for them to dry.


    After the poisonous silver bullets were ready, Murong''s group of five entered the area where they saw those ferocious wolves again.


    This time they also made traps in various locations. Dawei volunteered to be the bait since they would like to carefully lure the wolf one by one or just a few of them simultaneously.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Fortunately, the wolves were distributed in several areas this time. Dawei approached them quietly. He intentionally made a little sound just to attract the wolves in the vicinity to follow him. When Murong and Chen Fang saw the wolves in their scopes, especially the silver wolf kind, they fired silver bullets without hesitation.


    "Poof, poof, poof," the tranquil low sound of the bullets firing from the gun emerged. Both Dawei and Murong used silencers for their guns for the purpose of not attracting other wolves. However, despite the quiet sentence on the wolf, it was still super lethal.


    If these bullets were common bullets, this kind of injury would not even affect a silver wolf that much, and it would have definitely gotten up again after encountered just a few shots. However, the bullets that they were using were not ordinary bullets. They were made from silver and smeared with the potion mixed from Wolfbane and Moonwort. They simply became the nemesis of the wolf lineage.


    Once the bullet penetrated the wolf skin, the coating drug swiftly went along with the blood vessels and reached the targeted wolves'' hearts. Abruptly, the unlucky wolves stopped moving and fell. Not to mention a cry for help sound, even a wailing sound could not be heard due to a subsequent headshot from Murong.


    "So fast," Chen Fang whispered with a surprised look. He has never thought that the drug that Murong mixed would have such a strong effect. After a moment, the scary silver wolf completely lost its resistance.


    Dawei was also surprised. He fully understood the strength of this silver wolf that was chasing him. It usually required a couple of bullets in critical positions to defeat one, but this silver wolf was defeated with just one silver bullet.


    "It may be overkilled to use this bullet." Murong thought.


    Seeing that this strategy worked out well, the three of them coordinated closely together and continuously hunted the remaining wolves. After each killing round, they would get a short break for Dawei to catch a breath.


    For the first few rounds, these tactics ran smoothly until, in the third round, one of the wolves had a chance to howl, alerting other wolves in the area.


    "Damn, I missed its following headshot," Murong interjected.


    These wolves were always precarious from the intruders. When they heard the painful sound of their kins, they hurriedly responded with another howl. When those howls simultaneously echoed in the distance, Murong''s group also saw several silver wolves and a large group of black wolves approaching and snarling.


    However, they were very calm. In fact, they were ready. They aimed their guns and fired the bullets at those wolves. This time they did not even consider using silencers. They grabbed another gun when the shells on the first gun were out and fired immediately. What was the point of wasting time to put the silencer on since they all had already known we were here?


    Of all these times, Huilong and Yilin actually hid in the bush not far from Murong''s group. They thought it would be safer if those two were far from the wolves when Dawei lured them in. However, this became an unexpected mistake...


    While Murong''s team of three was fighting with the upcoming wolves. There was a sudden and abnormal sound.


    "Crack! Boom! Boom!"


    "Ding! Thunder wolf, a beast of the soldier rank, level 9 detected." The usual system''s announcement sounded in the Murong group''s mind.


    "Shit! This is really bad," Murong yelled with an anxious face. When he turned his face back to see where the lightning sound came from, his face turned white for the first time.


    There was a big gold wolf standing on its four legs between Murong''s team and Huilong''s team. Huilong''s and Yilin''s bodies were full of dirt right now as a result of that close thunder spell attack.


    The thunder wolf, which was closer to Huilong''s group, let out a growl and rushed towards their direction.


    Without ceremony, Huilong and Yilin began running away from it!

 Chapter 19: Crisis situation

    When the thunder wolf saw Huilong and Yilin separately fleeing from it in different directions, it paused its movement and confused for a moment. It hesitated and wobbled its head to see which side it should go. And, for god knows what reason, it chose to follow Huilong.


    Huilong instantly panicked when he saw the thunder wolf charging in his direction and opting to follow him. Right now, in his mind, his only thought was to run away from this vicious beast as fast as he could.


    "Murong! Dawei! Help me!" Huilong yelled as he was looking at the thunder wolf that was charging towards him. This scared the crap out of him, making him stumble as he ran backward.


    Seeing Huilong ran in a panic, Murong''s team of three also got nervous. Chen Fang suddenly shouted, reminding Murong, who was still standing beside him. "Follow him, Murong! Leave other wolves on this site to Dawei and me."


    With Chen Fang''s urging, Murong quickly regained his composure and chased after Huilong and the beast.


    It was not a coincidence that Murong was selected to be the one pursuing Huilong and the thunder wolf by Chen Fang. Both Chen Fang and Chen Dawei knew that Murong was equipped with purple wolf leather shoes, which should increase his movement speed. With their tacit understandings, Murong was the best choice among the three of them.


    However, his speed was still not enough to outrun the level 9 soldier rank thunder wolf. Luckily, Huilong remembered where the traps were, and he intentionally jumped across some of them. The thunder wolf, who was busily chasing down its prey, finally fell down in one of those traps. Its mistake had caused its hunt to slow down for a split second.


    This split second in the pit of the thunder wolf was enough to give an opportunity for Huilong to go farther from it and Murong to gain a sufficient distance.


    At that moment, for the first time, the wolf was within the aiming distance from Murong. He did not hesitate for a second. He aimed his pistol with his right eye and continuously fired the thunder wolf with his right hand.


    "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Murong pulled the trigger, and the three bullets uninterruptedly shot out from the gun. The shots that left turn into silvery light and gracefully flew quickly. The angle that Murong targeted was in the blind spot of the thunder wolf''s sight.


    However, that thunder wolf was a level 9 soldier rank creature with cognitive ability. It saw that how much damage these loud and noisy bullets could do on their kins before. When it sensed and heard the three bullets that were being shot in its direction from behind, it immediately made a dodge. With its quick reflex, the three shots missed its vital points and only scratched its skin.


    "What? Such an intelligent beast!" Murong interjected with a shock. "The reaction of this thunder wolf was extremely fast," Murong surprisingly thought.


    Huilong was perplexed as well. However, in Huilong''s mind, something was more important than the mysterious origin of the ability of this beast. That was, of course, his survival!


    When he turned his face back, he saw that the thunder wolf was still closing in on him. Thinking that Murong''s bullets could not stop the beast, he almost burst into tears in his heart. He began to think that he made a mistake in making this trip. If that thunder wolf reached him, it would instantly be able to make his body into pieces.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Continue shooting! Don''t stop!" Huilong yelled while he was still running with his life on the line.


    When Murong saw the thunder wolf dodging the silver bullets and continuing its charge at Huilong, Murong''s hands were covered in a cold sweat. He only had a few bullets left in the magazine, and there was no guarantee that these few bullets would be able to kill that beast. If he tried to load new enough special bullets into the magazine, it might also be too late. He could imagine the scene of Huilong''s body being bitten by the thunder wolf in his head.


    "My goodness! This thunder wolf is so scary! Shoot! Shoot it!" Huilong continued to shout. When he saw the thunder wolf getting closer and closer, he ran nonstop even he almost could not catch his breath right now.


    "What should I do...." Murong flusteredly mumbled to himself while he was still running after the thunder wolf and Huilong.


    Suddenly, Murong thought of the remaining glass potions that he still had in his space ring and shouted to Huilong.


    "I only have a few bullets left! I have a plan! Climb a tree or a hill! I need the beast to slow down just for a second!"


    When Huilong heard what Murong told him, he swiftly climbed to the closest tree as soon as possible. However, the distance between the beast and Huilong was not that far. Huilong was only two meters above the ground when the thunder wolf reached him.


    The thunder wolf also knew its limit. Instead of trying to climb the tree to follow Huilong, it tried to jump a few times and then decided to shake the tree bulk with its two palms.


    "Help!" Huilong screamed as his body continuously sliding down due to the vibration of the tree.


    However, finally, Murong was able to catch both of them up. He rapidly used his left hand to throw a potion bottle up in the air aiming above the beast and started shooting quickly at the bottle as soon as the bottle''s speed significantly slowed down. If he waited any longer, the bottle would start dropping at increasing speed due to gravity acceleration, and it would be more difficult to shoot.


    Although Murong has no skill at the moment and he could not accumulate any stats yet, the rich experience from his previous life was still there. The experience was accumulated with every bloody battle Murong went through. Some were even near-death experiences. No matter what kind of weapon, Murong was very proficient at it.


    An unleashed silver bullet perfectly broke the potion bottle in the air, causing a large scatter of liquid drops.


    The wonderful mini raindrops in the eyes of two dual brothers, but the scary and frightening liquid from hell as the thunder wolf would find out a second later.


    "It hits!" Huilong shouted excitingly.


    The thunder wolf was not able to dodge this time. How could it escape the toxic rain?


    Plop! Plop! Zaaa! Zaaa!


    The potion hit the thunder wolf''s fur on its head, body, legs, and tails. The toxic liquid reacted immediately. With this large amount of liquid and its high concentration, the thunder wolf was crying in pain.


    Akkkk! Akkkk!


    The thunder wolf rolled its body on the ground, crying. Its body was just in front of Murong and raised dust all around it.


    Huilong was gasping for air. He was extremely nervous. When he saw the thunder wolf screeching nonstop, he could not help thinking, "My god! That was so close! Thank goodness. My body was spared."


    If Murong were slightly slower, he would have been bitten into pieces by that wolf!


    Murong then finished the thunder wolf off with his refilled bullets.


    A moment later, after the beast was dead and Huilong had already climbed down from the tree, Huilong spoke with his exciting red face.


    "That was too thrilling!"


    Whenever Huilong thought of the scene from earlier, it would bring back the fear that was lingering within him.


    "Luckily, you remember where the traps are and able to slow the beast down." Murong faintly laughed.


    "Yeah," muttered Huilong and whistled with relief.


    Seeing the fallen thunder wolf, Huilong felt as if he was still living in a dream. Murong''s look and action from earlier till now were deeply engraved within his mind, leaving him with deep admiration.


    While both brothers were discussing and resting, soon, Dawei, uncle Fang, and Yilin finally came to meet them.

 Chapter 20: Dungeon clear!

    "All other wolves have been killed," Dawei told the group. "Are you guys alright?"


    "Yes, we are alright," Murong replied as he was walking to the thunder wolf corpse.


    After reaching the corpse, Murong then used a butcher knife to cut open the wolf carcass. He sliced open its head, and its blood spilled right into his face. But, he could not care less and continued to dissect the corpse with even more eagerness until he saw the beast''s spiritual nucleus.


    Usually, the beast''s spiritual nucleus was located in the brain area. If you saw it, you could tell right away from its abnormal shape. It already did not look like a natural brain organ, but it was also formed into a reflective icosahedral shape which seemed to give an artificially made atmosphere.


    Murong continued to stab downwards into the center of the brain and broke open an icosahedral solid shell surrounded by many swollen veins with familiar ease. One hard twist into the shell and a blood-soaking translucent nucleus with the size of a thumb fell into his palm.


    "It is a spiritual nucleus that I was talking about in our family meeting," Murong spoke as he was opening his right palm to show the team. "This is a really good staff," he added with a grin on his face.


    In fact, Murong did not have to tell them because, instinctively, they knew this was something really good. The fresh spiritual nucleus would normally whiff of something fragrant, something even more appetizing than food aroma, even amidst the strong stench of blood.


    Come to think of it. The mutation beasts must also feel the same. They must have always felt that we smelled very good. So they instinctively knew they needed to eat us, which resulted in our relentless slaughter of each other.


    "So, hurry up and help me digging up other silver wolves'' corpses. We do not want anything other than this spiritual nucleus!" Murong quickly instructed.


    Everybody nodded in agreement and hurriedly went to find the silver wolves'' corpses in the area. It did not take long. Murong''s team was able to dig out a total of five nuclei from the total of ten corpses, though the first from thunder wolf was the largest¡ªthe other four from silver wolf were just tiny fragments. When the last wolf corpse was finished dissecting, Murong''s group could not help feeling excited about their nucleus harvests.


    "What will you do with them, exactly?" Chen Fang asked.


    "We can absorb them. This thunder wolf nucleus has a yellow color corresponded to its thunder attribute. Usually, we should give the nucleus to the people who have a job related to that element. However, since no one has a job yet and it seems no one in our family relates to thunder element anyway in the future. I will use it to show you guys." Murong explained as he was showing the yellowish translucent nucleus. The water from a drinking bottle had already washed out the blood on the nucleus.


    "The way to do it is that you just have to imagine your spiritual energy in your mind, and try to channel it to your hand, then you will be able to absorb the nucleus bit by bit," Murong described as he demonstrated on the nucleus on his right palm. The air around the yellowish translucent nucleus became fuzzy and full of glowing yellow light.


    "The bigger it is, the longer it will be," Murong said after 5 minutes had passed.


    "Ding! Congratulations! You successfully open your thunder element." An unexpected sound rang up in Murong''s mind.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Oh. Interesting..." Murong mumbled with a smile.


    "What''s up?" Dawei asked with curiosity.


    "The system has just informed me that I have opened up my thunder element. I did not have this element in my previous life. Maybe it relates to the fact that I absorb the nucleus before I get a job." Murong gave his hypothesis.


    This actually opened a new way of possibility for him to develop his family. Not only they had started opening their spiritual senses far from the beginning of the apocalypse in this life, but they would also have the potential to have more elemental attributes. Together with his knowledge, they would definitely become those elite fighters.


    After Murong finished the absorption process, he looked down at the remaining evolution nuclei in his hand, four green fingernail-sized nuclei. He planned to distribute it to his uncle Fang, Dawei, his dad, and Huilong. He gave one to Chen Fang because his past life job was related to a wind attribute. As for the remaining three, he just would like to experiment to find a method to open new elemental attributes.


    Murong smiled and said, "Let''s test it with you guys later when we got back to the camp. But, for now, we have to be a little bit faster. There is a little time left for us to find the key. It will not be fun if we have to go through these killings again. Especially if we have to reacquaintance with our thunder friend."


    "Yes, agree," thought of the thriller scene of thunder wolf, everyone hurriedly consented. They all had the same opinions in this aspect. It did not take a genius to realize that the dungeon was very dangerous for them now. Not to mention whether, on the next one, the difficulty of the dungeon would still be the same or not.


    Luckily, despite the unfortunate encounter with the thunder wolf, the key hidden place was not that difficult to find this time. It took them just another 30 minutes to find the key. Once Dawei got a hold of the golden key in his right hand, the same dungeon-ending notification appeared in everyone''s mind.


    "Ding! Congratulations! Mission accomplished. You have found the golden key. You can choose one of the three rewards from finishing this dungeon."


    "Ding! Please select the choice from below


    1. Awakening spiritual sense


    2. Soldier rank random item


    3. Job changing: Hunter (The font color is ranged from red to green. The green color means you are perfectly suitable for this job. You could change your job on the red color font, but it is not recommended.)


    Murong, Dawei, and Chen Fang chose the second choice like last time, while Huilong and Yilin chose the first choice. When everyone appeared again at the entrance of the dungeon, Dawei stepped forward with a few steps and handed the black hexagram stone necklace to Murong.


    Murong took the necklace from Dawei''s hand, and a moment later, its properties appear in Murong''s mind.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Black obsidian amulet


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: S


    Passive skill:


    1) Increase spiritual defense +7 level


    2) Increase spiritual energy accumulation from the environment by 50%


    Active skill:


    1) Extend skill control range for 50% for 10 minutes (Once every 24 hours)


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    "Wow! Another S grade!" Murong was extremely surprised. He recalled a second ago that the system notified him that he received S grade item - a black moon cape. He could not imagine that he would be more surprised after getting another one from Chen Fang. So, the good fortune in an unfortunate event!


    As for Dawei, although de did not get like super rare grade item, it was also not bad. He handed B grade space ring to Murong. This space ring volume was up to 1 cubic meter.


    After thinking for a while, Murong threw the amulet to Dawei and said, "Dawei, this equipment is more suitable for you. It can increase your spiritual ability. Your job probably relates to psychics like before, which will be beneficial for you if your spiritual ability is high. "


    "As for you, uncle. You could keep this space ring. It is a similar item to the one I have on my finger.", Murong turned his face to Chen Fang and added.


    Both Dawei and Chen Fang accepted the equipment from Murong without any arguments and immediately equipped them on their bodies. They understood that personal power in the apocalypse has little value. The most important right now was to develop their team.


    With the excitement of obtaining several good pieces of equipment and successfully awaken all of their spiritual senses, Murong''s team was in high spirit. They immediately rushed back into their camp. They could not wait to tell their good news to the remaining members of the family.

 Chapter 21: End of Mount Taiyuan trip

    The people in the camp were eagerly and anxiously waiting for Murong''s team because they simply didn''t know the situation of their children in the dungeon. Grantly, they recognized and believed in the ability of Murong''s trio, but they still felt worried in their hearts. It was the instinct of every parent, I guessed.


    Chen Dong also sensed Chen Yiren''s worry and began to pat her back, comforting her.


    "Don''t worry, have not we just come back fine? Even Dawei and Fang were together with them. There won''t be any danger, " Chen Dong said as he was soothing his wife.


    Fortunately, they didn''t have to wait for too long. An energizing sound rang up from the dungeon''s direction.


    "Mom! Dad! We are back!" Murong excitingly shouted, informing the people in the camp of their arrival.


    At this time, Chen Jinnan and Chen Yawen also heard the Murong''s sound outside of their tent, realizing that their children had already returned. They then walked out to meet their children.


    All of Murong''s parents and grandparents came to meet with Murong''s team next to the camp entrance. When Murong''s team was approaching the camp, the first thing that they noticed was an elegant and dark-colored cape that Murong wore. They couldn''t help but be amazed for a short time.


    "Is that the equipment that you got from the dungeon? It looks strange but nice." Chen Jinnan was the first to react.


    "We have some good lucks this time. It''s an S-grade cape." Murong said with a smile while he recalled the property of the Black moon cape.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Black moon cape


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: S


    Passive skill:


    1) Increase spiritual defense +7 level


    2) Increase spiritual attack +7 level


    Active skill:


    1) Kinematic force field (1-meter diameter spherical force field that could prevent any physical attacks for 10 minutes per day)


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Perhaps, 10-minutes kinematic force field didn''t seem to have any significant effect in the prolonged fight, but at the most crucial moment, this extra little surprise may play a critical role. In the future, Murong, on more than one occasion, was able to appreciate this benefit.


    Actually, the most important thing is that they got two S-grade pieces of equipment that had no restriction of the occupation that could use it. In other words, these black obsidian amulet and black moon cape could be used by anyone. This flexibility gave rise to all kinds of possibilities and could transfer among their group.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    As Murong was pondering, Chen Yiren looked around and asked. "Murong, where is Huilong?"


    It turned out that Huilong was walking behind Murong all these times. It was as if he sensed that his mother would make a scene when she saw him.


    "I am here, mom..." Huilong, who hid behind Murong''s big cape, quietly spoke and reluctantly revealed his slightly injured body to Yiren.


    "Oh my god! What happen! Why he has a bruise and blood all over the place?" Yiren was astonished when she was able to see her son''s state.


    "We encountered some problems, but nothing was serious, mom." Huilong calmed Yiren while he was adding "Except I was nearly dead" in his mind.


    "Yeah, it''s over, and the harvest is very rich. Out of the three pieces of equipment, two are S-grade equipment. We even obtain several spiritual nuclei. In the future, these will be very valuable." Murong quickly added to lessen Yiren''s worry and distract the focus from Huilong''s injury.


    "Still. Let mom clean the wound and put the bandage," Chen Yiren said with a show of concern in her eyes while she was grabbing Huilong''s arm to take him to where the med kit was.


    Chen Huilong promptly followed his mother. Not that he had much of a choice. After they arrived at the medkit box, Chen Yiren speedily unscrewed the water bottle and poured the liquid on Huilong''s wounds. After that, she dipped a Q-tip into the cleaning solution which came with the medkit and began to rub gently around Huilong''s wound.


    "Zeeeed!" A sharp intake of breath and saliva from Huilong was heard. This cleaning solution stinged and irritated his wound tissue, causing acute pain. But, he only winced. He would not cry in front of his family for a small wound.


    Yiren slightly paused upon seeing Huilong''s response. She was used to the effect of this kind of wound cleaning solution, but she forgot that Huilong was just a boy and he wasn''t used to experiencing this pain.


    Yiren''s face softened as she said, "Sorry, I forget to remind you that the cleaning solution might sting. It is nearly done. Just hold on." Then, she continued to clean his wound again.


    "It is okay. I can handle it." Huilong acted bravely. He pretended as if it didn''t hurt at all, and this was only annoying him. He was a man of the Chen Family, after all. How can he afraid of this little pain.


    Yiren chuckled when she heard Huilong stubbornly acted. She then rinsed the wound thoroughly to rid it of any dirt and cleaning solution. Finally, she took out a few Band-Aids and applied them over Huilong''s wounds.


    Not far away, Murong discussed what to do next with the remaining family members after telling them what happened in the dungeon and showing them how to absorb the spiritual nucleus.


    Interestingly, only Chen Dawei got a new wind attribute after the absorption process, but Chen Dong did not get any notifications.


    "So, it seems to be random. Huh?" Murong thought, after getting the results.


    "We need more data to reach a conclusion on how it works, I guess." Murong continued his thought process.


    "So, what will we do next?" Chen Jinnan interruptedly asked.


    "At first, I thought we were going to spend a few more days here to get more equipment but, the dungeon is too dangerous right now. Especially, we couldn''t select our job yet. It would be a different story if we could get a job. So, we have to stop grinding for now." Murong told his thinking to the group.


    "It is better to find another dungeon and try to get items from there. In fact, once I accompanied you guys off at home, I will do another duty that I got from a family meeting. I will go to survey the Borderlands region and hopefully find the dungeon there." Murong added.


    "Yes, that makes sense." Chen Jinnan said and nodded, signaling his agreement. The others also had the same opinion.


    "Now, it was almost dark. Let''s stay for another night and go back home tomorrow?" Chen Fang suggested to the group.


    Everyone agreed with Chen Fang''s idea. Therefore, after three days of clearing the dungeon, Murong''s family spent another night here in their camp. The next morning, they wrapped up their things and went home, ending the first dungeon family trip.

 Chapter 22: Beidu mercenary guild

    After Murong''s group returned to Chen Manor, everyone resumed their everyday activities and busily prepared for the coming apocalypse as they had planned before traveling to Mount Taiyuan.


    Chen Dong and Chen Yiren actively contacted several merchants to buy dry food, daily necessities, materials, weapons, and military supplies through the company''s channels. Chen Jinnan outlined a proposal to submit to the House of Lords about their territory relocation. Chen Fang and Chen Dawei went back to their military/intelligent organization, trying to recruit trustworthy and capable people.


    As for Chen Murong, he went through large piles of the Chen family''s personal files and called them to interview one by one. He did this because he knew that there were spies among their ranks. However, he was not sure who they were. The spies have never revealed themselves. The only thing he could do was to lower the possibility of including the spies in any critical operations. He tried to select people who were also dead by the time he escaped with his big brother out of the capital.


    So, apart from the attendants and the guards in the family, like every major family in the kingdom, Chen family also had their own military force in their territory and an army camp outside the capital. Actually, using the "army camp" term might be a little bit overstated. It should just only call a group of soldiers. Its size was only to ensure their masters'' safety for a short time but did not large enough to be able to plot a rebellion against the royal family like the real army.


    Nevertheless, Murong had no choice to make do what he had on his hands. Recalling people from their faraway territory with a noticeable number would take an unnecessarily long time and raised suspicion. So, Murong picked the soldiers only from the guards and their army camp. And after gathering about fifteen people, Murong also asked Dawei to accompany him to survey the Borderlands region.


    Murong and Dawei, plus another fifteen soldiers, took the south-west line hyperloop train to Beidu station. This station was located in Beidu city, the closest large city before entering the Borderlands region.


    When Murong and the gang arrived at Beidu city, Murong led the team to one of the large buildings in the city business area. Dawei looked at the sign and saw it labeled "Beidu Mercenary Guild."


    Without ceremony, both Murong and Dawei went inside the building. When Dawei first saw the atmosphere inside this place, he was actually surprised. He had never thought that the mercenary guild still had this much high traffic. In the past, this might be normal. However, in the last five decades, mercenary professions were not that popular anymore.


    Especially nowadays, multinational merchants around the borders, who used to be the biggest clients of mercenaries, decided to turn their caravans'' security to the local government forces. The transportation routes that used to pass dangerous places were replaced by faster, safer, and government-controlled routes. This was due to the expansion of several cities in all directions over the years. So, the need to use mercenaries for caravans'' security had drastically reduced. Now, most mercenary missions had been reduced to nothing more than simple detective jobs. Only the underdeveloped regime like Borderlands that mercenary was still playing a key role.


    "Welcome to Beidu mercenary guild." The woman receptionist welcomed Murong''s team with a smile. "What can we do for you?"


    "We would like to go to Borderlands inner region. So, we are looking to hire some bodyguards..." Murong told the receptionist what he wanted but paused. After thinking a bit, Murong continued to ask, "Is the Drunken Spirit team available?"


    "Drunken Spirit? Let me check." The receptionist typed the information on the keyboard to search.


    When the team''s information showed up on the screen, she looked surprised because this team was newly established, and the credibility rating was still quite low. It was rare for the customer to specify this type of team by name. However, Murong knew of this team. It was one of the famous teams in his past life.


    "Yes, they are available. But, they are kind of new and inexperienced. Are you sure? Borderlands inner region is a dangerous place."


    "Yes, I am sure."


    "Ok. I will make an appointment with them for you." The receptionist told Murong. After that, she printed the information about the appointment on a small piece of paper and handed it to Murong.


    "Thank you." Murong received and read what was on the paper. Then, he quickly led Dawei out of the building.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    At noon, Beidu city


    Black Raven inn


    ....


    If you asked people in Beidu city where was the most populated place during lunch in Beidu city, everybody could tell you right away that the answer was the Black Raven inn. The food here was cheap and delicious. There was also live music performing every day. This place was so great that it got recommendations from the local newspapers almost every other week.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    This place also happened to be where all mercenaries would like to hang around after work because of its joyous atmosphere. However, if you looked inside the inn today, there was one man anxiously sitting on one of the tables, and he seemed not to enjoy the festive atmosphere of the inn that much.


    This man''s name was Robert Gonzalos, and he was the captain of the Drunken Spirit team. Today, he was waiting for his employer to contact him for quite a while now. He was super excited when the mercenary guild representative called him, informing him that there was a high-rating job available to them. Most of the jobs they had done so far were just low-rating jobs such as surveillance on people claiming disability or cheating on a spouse, working undercover at certain factories trying to investigate internal theft, or finding runaway pets. These were not the jobs that their team was looking for when they first established their Drunken Spirit team. In fact, these jobs were considered garbage ones for well-known mercenary teams. Both the pays and guild scores obtained from these types of jobs were negligible.


    Robert''s team would like to have adventurous tasks that could show their martial arts skill, and they had been waiting for the opportunity for a long time. So, when he heard from the mercenary guild that this mission was the high-paid one, he had high hope that this mission could be the one!


    However, when he saw two teenagers entered the inn and walked straight to his table, he felt a little bit disappointed. Even though both of them dressed nicely, it seemed that this time employers were still quite young. They might not have a good mission. Hopefully, it was not just an upgrade from finding pets for high school students to spoiled young nobles.


    "Well, at least, the pay should be good," Robert thought.


    "Hi, are you two young masters that would like to hire us?" Robert asked when Murong and Dawei approached him.


    "Yes, we are," Murong said with a smile on his face and reached his arm to shook hand with Robert. "My name is Murong, and this is my brother, Dawei. Nice to meet you."


    "My name is Robert, head of the Drunken Spirit mercenary team. Nice to meet you too," Robert said in a friendly and courteous manner as he shook hand with Murong and Dawei. No matter what the mission was or how young the employers were, they were still big whale customers.


    "So, as the agency said. You would like to hire us the whole team?" Robert asked for a confirmation.


    "Yes, we would like to hire the whole twenty people team," Murong said as he was sitting down on one of the chairs.


    "What is the mission?"


    "Umm. Basically, general protection of our team through Borderlands inner region. Surveillance of the specific area when we were there. And, of course, non-disclosure agreement."


    "Borderlands inner region? What is the purpose?" Robert curiously asked. There was no major city there in the Borderlands inner region, and it was well-known to be full of thieves and bandits.


    "That is none of your concern. We don''t bring anything values. We only would like to find something in the forest," Murong answered dismissively and continued to ask Robert back. "The only question is... will your team up for it?"


    "Definitely!" Robert quickly answered. How could he not? This was the opportunity that his team was looking for. He even forgot to negotiate the fee as usual.


    "Guarding and surveillance are simple for us. Do we need a non-disclosure agreement? That one, we have to do it at the city hall."


    "Yes. It is our family''s policy," Murong answered.


    "Ok. I will draft our contract, and we could meet at the city hall in half an hour?"


    "Sure," Murong confirmed.


    "Then, let''s hope for a good cooperation," Robert stood up and extended his hand to Murong.


    "Yes. I look forward to our cooperation," Murong also stood up and shook Robert''s hand. After that, Murong''s couple and Robert went into separate ways. As Murong and Dawei were walking out of the inn, no one noticed the strange sparkle eyes from the inn maid who served their tea.


    ...


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Before Gondola period


    Blue planet''s calendar ¨C 26th January 2024


    ??? ¨C 80,000 kilometers from Beidu. - Secret soundproof room


    ...


    "So, you confirm the news that we received?"


    "Yes, my lord. Our informant said she recognized them from the picture and heard everything."


    "Connect me to Hector then."


    "Yes, my lord." The servant acknowledged the order and called the number that his lord just told him to.


    "Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!"


    "Hello? This is Hector speaking. Who am I talking to?" The old man on another end of the line responded to his coming call.


    "Hello, Hector. My lord would like to speak to you directly. I will open speakerphone now."


    "Hello, Hector. We haven''t chatted for a while?"


    "Hi, my lord. True. What could I be of service today?" Hector courteously asked.


    "I have a mission for you. It is an easy one. Just kidnap a few kids."


    "Kidnaping? Who and where are the targets?"


    "The targets will go to your area soon. The details you could ask from Sebastien. As for who, they are the boys of the Chen family."


    "Chen family! The noble ones?!" Hector exclaimed. Usually, they dealt with only the lower class of the society, not the upper ones.


    "Of course. Which other family could it be?"


    "But, my lord, if we kidnap noble family members, I am afraid the central wouldn''t let us go. They may send the army here." Hector expressed his concern and continued to dissuade his superior.


    "If we want ransom money, I think we could aim for wealthy merchants. It is safer that way, my lord." Hector added.


    "I have my reasons for obtaining these Chen''s boys, but I don''t have to explain it to you. We have waited for so many years for this good opportunity. We couldn''t let this opportunity pass. As for the protection surrounding these boys, I believe my plan and support that I will send to you will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Hector ¨C courage you will find in yourself unless you wish to feel the full extent of my wrath."


    "My lord! Or course, I don''t dare but...."


    "Enough! It is decided. I knew your devotion to me is nothing more than the fear of your neighbor thief villages. You wouldn''t be submissive to me if you had other methods to obtain weapons. There will be no more argument regarding this mission."


    "As you wish, my lord."


    "Contact me when you get them."


    Then, the communication stopped, and the phone screen turned black, leaving the old village chief, Hector, sweating alone in the cold night.

 Chapter 23: Not so easy mission

    *** Robert Gonzalos''s mercenary logbook ***


    It had already been almost a month after that particular day. The day that our mercenary team got the first real mercenary mission. Now, we had already been back at Beidu city safe and sound with generous pay from our employers. The rewards from the mission were really rich, and I couldn''t hope for a better.


    However, until this day, I was still thinking about that moment from time to time whether I had made the right decision to accept this job.


    On that day, after separating from two young masters, Chen Murong and Chen Dawei, I quickly walked back to my house and began drafting the hiring agreement. All of my team members that were there were extremely excited when they heard the news. Finally, we got a real mercenary mission!


    "Nice boss!" one of my team members said, "So far, we haven''t got a chance to participate in any high-rating missions, so not many people have heard of us. This will be our showcase!"


    "Yes!" another team member quickly agreed and added, "And if we can complete this mission, our team could enter the upper tier!"


    This sentence called for a loud cheer from everyone. Every team member that was present there in my house smiled and laughed. We were so optimistic about the mission and looked forward to our bright future, not knowing the reality we would eventually encounter.


    The mission was, firstly, seemingly straightforward. By accompanying two young masters from a noble family in the Borderlands regime for a tour, we could gain a large number of guild points and coins. However, this simple task that we were supposed to have instead had turned into a serious one, even leaving an uneasy feeling in my conscience.


    Who could I blame if not myself? I should have known when I saw their side of a convoy that they had prepared. These young masters must not be from an ordinary background. How could this mission be an easy one?


    After I signed the contract with them, I was excused from them to organize my team. We decided that we would reconvene at one of the city''s gates two hours later. Then, I swiftly called all of my subordinates to check and arrange our vehicles and supplies. When I and my subordinates were ready, we went to meet our employers at the meeting location.


    When I approached the gathering place that we agreed upon, I saw a fleet of five humvees and one truck.


    "It seems they are well prepared," I thought.


    In fact, come to think of it right now, that should be my first clue. Who would prepare military humvees for the sake of touring or hunting animals in the Borderlands region?


    At that time, when I saw what employers had prepared, I even felt confident and relax. Not only we had our modified jeeps, but our employers also had their own military humvees. I only thought that those two young masters were thorough or just too cautious. Either way, it was good for me.


    Then, we introduced each other our team members.


    I firstly pointed at my team and introduced them to these young masters, "These people are the members of our Drunken Spirit."


    "They are Henry, Carl, Liu,..."


    In turn, two young masters introduced people on their side. During our introduction, I was surprised to find that the people on the other side also had weapons, and their bodies seemed to be like the person who had undergone military training before.


    In retrospect, this should also be my second clue. I honestly did not know why I did not see it at that time.


    So, after a short introduction, both young master Murong and young master Dawei shook hands with all of us, and we began our journey through the Borderlands regime.


    ...


    It had been six days since we left from Beidu-Borderlands border. We continued to drive with a two-hour intermittent stop for six days now in the daytime. Most of the routes that we used were consisted of dirt roads, which were common in the Borderlands region.


    During this driving, we rarely encountered any cities or villages along the way. Not that there were none in the Borderlands region, though. It was just that the route that our employers chose was not a regular route. The employers still wouldn''t tell us what they would like to see or were searching for. They only told us where they would like to go and which route we should use from the map.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    On the way, there were some old and wrecked cottages on the side of the road, which all belonged to the old small villages that were destroyed by bandits and were now uninhabited. This entire land was full of thieves and robbers. Most people in this area either long moved out or settled down in larger villages.


    Our convoy of humvees, jeeps, and trucks decided to stop and take a long rest at a famous resting village, Thames village. This would be our last extensive stop to refuel and refill the supplies before entering Borderlands inner region.


    After arriving at the village, I led both of our teams to one of the hostels that I used to stay to settle down and discussed which route we should go next during our dinner.


    I must say that I regretted this decision later. I should have been more careful. I should have known that, in this place, there were eyes and ears everywhere. There usually were scouts from different mercenary groups, spies from bandit groups, and agents from thief villages. Some may be neutral, but they would remember your conversation and sold the intel to whoever was willing to pay them. However, at that time, I did not think anyone would interest in us.


    I also thought that our team would be safe since our team dressed like other mercenaries. However, I forgot about our employer''s team, especially two young masters. Their uniforms and logos had shown the locals that they were definitely not from around here.


    So, we had a nice dinner, rested a bit for the day, and after that, we got back onto the road, not knowing we had been tracked and marked by several people.


    ...


    Not too far away from the convoy''s position, a mysterious man secretly looked at them with his binocular and spoke to his comrades over the phone.


    "I have spotted the convoy using Zhongshan route. They have five humvees, six modified jeeps, and two trucks. They are matched with our intelligence report. It seemed they are also loaded with light weapons and skilled mercenaries."


    "Affirmative. We will be ready for them. Other positions continue to keep track of them. Tell us when they arrive at your position." Another side of the phone replied.


    ...


    Back at our convoy, not long after our fleet left the village, at about 30 kilometers out, most of our members had emergency situations. We needed to poop! Something was wrong with our food!


    So, we made an unscheduled stop in the middle of nowhere.


    During our stop, a group of bandits was quietly surrounding us. They each carried guns as they began approaching from all sides. One of my subordinates actually noticed it and promptly informed us. However, before we could take off, several gunshots were heard. Quite a few humvees and jeeps'' wheels were popped by those bullets, making it impossible for us to escape without leaving some of us behind. Without any other choices, I signaled others to prepare our guns and find protection. However, strategic location speaking, this site was not good for us. There was no natural protection that we could use.


    My second in command asked. "What should we do, boss? It seems some powerful forces specifically target us."


    It was understandable why my second in command said this. These guys were definitely not the usual local bandits. The typical local bandits would only pick on the seemingly weak convoy that was full of resources. Our convoy was full of weapons and soldiers rather than supplies. If there were a prey rating, our convoy would fall in the category of "Not worth an effort prey" without a doubt.


    I, then, shouted to the surrounding bandits.


    "What do you want from us!"


    Some of the bandits emerged but still pointed their guns at us. One of them that supposed to be their leader shouted back. "Put down all of your weapons and put your hands behind your head!"


    "Not a chance. There are noting values in this convoy. Let''s talk this out." I shouted back.


    "Hahaha. That may be true. But, you have something we want."


    "What is it? Our cars?" I asked the leader of the bandits back.


    "Well, that would be a bonus. But, we actually would like to invite two young masters from the Chen family." The leader of the robbers shouted with a chuckle.


    "We don''t have two people you were referring to," I shouted this lie to the robbers even though I thought it should not work.


    "Don''t lie to us. We have already investigated your convoy. Follow our demand. It would be better if this thing could be resolved without bloodshed."


    "Let''s us discuss for a bit?" I asked the robber back.


    "Fine. I give you 5 minutes!"


    While I still contemplated the plan to escape this situation, the walkie-talkie in my car buzzed with a fuzzy sound.


    ...


    "Dawei and I will go with them." One of the young masters, Chen Murong, spoke through the walkie-talkie.


    "No, young master," I hurriedly reply. "We don''t have enough people to win this battle, but we could cover for both of you and let you two escape, young masters."


    It was not just me that thought this way.


    "Yes, I would rather die like a man than live like a coward." My second in command instantly added.


    "It is alright. We also don''t want our men to be hurt," young master Murong still insisted on his idea and gave a reason. "Also, it seems they want us alive. We may be able to negotiate later."


    "But..." I tried to persuade him back because I was still not convinced.


    "It is ok." Young master Murong interrupted me.


    Then, young master Murong and young master Dawei did not wait for my additional response. Both of them immediately left their car, moving to the location between the leader of the bandits and us.


    "We are the people that you guys want. Let them go, or we will fight." Young master Murong firmly shouted.


    "Hahaha. You guys are so brave. Ok. I will let them go. Could you come here like a good boy then?" the leader of the bandits teasingly ordered them.


    "Let them go first." Young master Murong negotiated.


    The bandits'' leader thought a little bit and, finally, said to other people in the team. "Ok. You guys can go."


    I looked at those two young masters hesitantly. But, finally, our team saluted them and reluctantly got in the remaining usable cars.


    When our convoy left the scene back to our previous last stopped village, I could tell that all our mercenary members felt guilty in their hearts.


    This was the first time in my life that I felt ashamed to be called... "Mercenary."

 Chapter 24: Bandits lair (1)

    *** Chen Murong''s point of view. ***


    So, it had been a week since we entered the Borderlands region. We had just made a temporally stopped at the Thames village to replenish our supplies. Then, we left the village to continue to our final destination. But, shortly after we left the village, the majority of the members of our group unexpectedly had food poisoning. I knew it was weird, but accidents did happen sometimes. Fortunately, Dawei and I were not on the poop train list.


    So, when others were still busy doing their critical business, Dawei and I sat in our car, silently waiting. However, out of nowhere, we heard several gunshots.


    "Bang! Bang! Bang!"


    Hearing the sound of the gun firing, everybody hurriedly hid in the safe position, got in a car, or drew a gun. Dawei and I still sit in the car since our mirrors were made of bulletproof glass. So, we took the time to examine around and noticed that several people were approaching us in all directions. From rough estimation, this group of bandits was about 100 people up in size, and all of them also appeared to be armed to the teeth. It seemed these bandits had successfully ambushed us without a doubt. We were stuck in this terrain like a rabbit that fell into a big hole and could not jump out.


    Positively, Robert''s team and our team also immediately reacted in a very professional way. Even though the situation was terrible, we still kept calm, took a few deep breaths, and shifted the focus to find a way to come out of this situation.


    Hence, Robert acted as a negotiator with the bandit team. However, immediately after the objective of the robbers was revealed, Dawei and I stared at each other with a questioning look.


    Why did these bandits want to kidnap us? It did not make any sense. If they did not know who we were, they might think we were descendants of wealthy merchants, and it would make sense to demand a ransom payment from our family. But, if they had already known who we were, they should know that they risked angering the central to capture the descendants of noble.


    Anyway, our situation was at a disadvantage. No matter what the reasons were, it could not change the fact that we were in a dangerous state.


    "This doesn''t seem good. At this rate, most of our men will perish in the fight," I hypothesized after hearing the conversion between Robert and one of the bandits.


    "True," Dawei agreed. "What do you think we should do then?"


    I paused a little bit to think and, then, roughly told him my idea. The plan that I came up with was actually extremely simple. I would let the bandits capture us...


    After listening to my plan, Dawei made a suspicious face at first, but eventually, he gave me an approval nod with a bitter smile. Then, I picked up my walkie-talkie and talked to all the people on the team to propose my plan.


    Of course, Robert and his team did not agree with us. However, I did not wait for their approval. Dawei and I hastily got out of our humvee and begun negotiation with the head of the bandits right away.


    The negotiation went well, or rather, went the least bad for us.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The bandits agreed to let our team go in exchange for us to follow them obediently. Therefore, Dawei and I were tied and brought back with them in one of their vans. Then, our trip to our captors'' lair began.


    During the bandit''s lair journey, the bandits assigned two of their own people to guard us in a small compartment of a modified van. I actually did not mind about that because I knew they also remained wary about us. However, I did mind the choice of people that they chose to accompany us. They brainlessly selected two big stinky brawny guys to be on our sides at all times.


    Damn, these guys really needed to take a bath. My nose was already red, suffering from their strong and pungent smells.


    To make the situation worse, the van''s air conditioning was also broken. Those two guys continuously let out a bunch of sweat. I felt it would be better if they just used an anesthetic on us and let us sleep like the kidnapper in the movie.


    So, as you could probably guess, the trip was not enjoyable, but at least it was not last long. The bandits decided to stop in the evening after traveling for about half a day and set up their tents in the forest. Though Dawei and I were tied with a maple tree, and they made us sleep in the open under the night sky. At least two people were watching and guarding us at all times.


    So far, during our capture, I felt relieved that we had not been hurt, violated, or forced to do anything yet. It seemed, apart from preventing us from escaping, they still treated us with a bit of respect.


    Though, if they did act rashly in the future, we might have to stop pretending to be a little lamb in the hand of a fox. Dawei and I would teach them a memorable life lesson.


    The trip lasted for another day, and we arrived at their destination sometimes in the night. It was dark, and I could not see clearly where we were. Nevertheless, I could tell that we had been brought to what I would call a medium-sized village in the middle of a Borderlands inner region forest.


    After we entered the village, another tall guy approached us and brought us to an old wooden hut at the back of the village. He called a couple of young men out. After those two being told something, one of the young men nodded before he proceeded to bring Dawei and me to a smaller wooden shack not far away and signaled for us to enter it.


    Once we both in the shack, the guy stood at the door and said, "You will be spending a night here in this shack. Our chief will meet you tomorrow. Oh, and don''t waste time trying to escape. We have several guards standing outside this shack."


    Then, the guy closed the door and locked us in with a keychain outside of the front door.


    After the guy left, we both survey the room that we were in. This shack, or crude jail, was rather small. It was not exceeding 4 square meters large and was basically constructed by a chaotic assortment of wooden branches of different lengths plunged into the ground, forming a wall that was roughly two meters tall with a thatched roof glass on top. So, at least, if there were rain, we would not be soaked with water.


    Weirdly, there was a little broken stool in the middle of the room, and there were no other pieces of furniture in the shack. The ground within the shack was also rather muddy, and some feces could be spotted at the corners of the shack. Some shameless people must have used the shack as their toilet recently.


    I was moving the stool out of the way while Dawei tried to test the strength of the wall in all directions.


    The guards that posed outside of the shack must hear and saw our movements. They shout, "Don''t bother to find a way to escape. There is no such thing. Even if you could find one, there are no other people around here that you could call for help. There is nothing around here except us, the forest, and the ferocious animals. If you leave the village, both of you will end up becoming two bloody corpses within a day."


    However, I did not put that guard''s warning into my heart since I had a solid plan on how to escape tomorrow. I also had several special items with me that we obtained from the dungeon. It was not difficult to get away now unscratched if we put our effort into it. However, I would like to meet the chief of the bandit and figured out what happened first.


    Consequently, Dawei and I whispered to each other about the plan for tomorrow. No matter what, we have to escape tomorrow. Only people with something wrong with their heads would like to spend another night in this damn place.


    One night was already more than enough...

 Chapter 25: Bandits lair (2)

    *** Chen Murong''s point of view continued. ***


    After spent time in the shack for one night, finally, the next morning eventually arrived. A night in here seemed like an eternity, in my opinion. When we woke up, one of the bandits brought us breakfast. Well, more or less something that was edible for us to survive. Wait, did I say "edible"? I might have praised it a little bit too high for that overcooked mysterious meat with a three-day-old leftover cup of grayish gravy, serving with burned to black bread. We tasted it a little bit and wished it would return to where it came from.


    When the bandit came back to get our breakfast tray, he noticed that we barely ate. However, he did not care. He only smirked and said, "Our chief will meet you now. Follow me."


    "Okay," we said. Dawei and I then stood up and followed the guy.


    We shortly walked from the back of the village to the center of the village. In fact, even if we did not follow this guy, we could still find the place. It was actually very easy to tell which cottage belonged to the bandits'' chief. It was the biggest one in the middle of the village, with several guards standing around the door.


    When we arrived, one of the guards led Dawei and me inside the bandit chief''s cottage. We stepped into the cabin and found a small sitting room. This room was decorated in a neat and clean way. On one side of the room, the fireplace was nicely filled up with wood, and the fire made the whole room warm and cozy. On another side of the room, there was an old man sitting behind a big wooden desk. The guard made a coughing noise so that the old man knew we were there.


    Hearing the noise, the old man looked up at Dawei and me with a happy face, reminding me of my grandfather''s expression when he had looked upon Huilong on the first day that he was born. It was a joyful, grasping smile, extremely hard to be contained. The only thing that was different was this old man''s eyes. They were ill-intentioned eyes instead of benevolent ones.


    "Hello, our respectable guests. I am Hector. The chief of this humble village," the old man said. "Nice to finally meet you two."


    I mocked and said, "I wish we could say the same for you."


    "Hahaha, at least, I hope you like our accommodation that we prepared for you." The old man shamelessly said.


    "Ummmm," I sneered and said nothing. However, my displeasing expression told him all he needed to know.


    "You could not expect anything fancy young master. We are in the middle of nowhere, " the old Hector said as he was shaking his head as if that was the best he could do. Then, he called someone in another room to come.


    "Laura, come here! Those two young masters are here." The old man shouted.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Then, the door that connected to another room made a squeezing noise as it slowly opened. I saw a charismatic young girl in her teens entering and walking to the side of the old man.


    "Let me introduce this young girl next to me. She is my daughter. Do you remember her? She is the one who poisoned your food at Thame villages. In a way, she is the main reason we could flawlessly capture you." Hector braggingly introduced his daughter with a smile.


    I turned to look at the girl, realizing why I felt familiar, and mockingly said. "So, interesting hobby, hah. Pretend to be maid despite you are the chief''s daughter."


    "That is because our young master is genius. If we let our underlings do it, you would notice. We have to use someone smarter...more educated. Otherwise, how could we trick young master?" she responded with a chuckle, aiming to laugh at Murong''s duo.


    I felt a little bit angry to be tricked by this little young girl. However, I was more professional than the ordinary young noble master.


    "Anyway, let''s talk about our business. Whoever hires you, we will pay double." I quickly proposed the old chief.


    "How do you know someone hired us?" This was the first time that Hector really felt surprised.


    I smirked. "Easy. If it was about the money, you would have left the message to our team and told us already how much you wanted. But, it seems you have just would like to chat with us. So, either you need something from us, or the thing that you need from us came from someone else."


    Dawei said nothing, but he impressively grinned with my answer. The old man was also equally impressed. "You are smarter than we thought," he praised.


    "Yes, you are right. Someone did hire us," the old man easily admitted. "But, you are also wrong. Your money could not entice us here. You have to learn that there is something that money cannot buy."


    "We can match whatever they offered you," I said.


    "Maybe you can, or maybe you can''t," the old man said. "However, I don''t think you are in the position that you can negotiate with us."


    "Yes, you are lucky that both of you have not been beaten to death yet," said the chief''s daughter. She disliked me because of that previous maid mockery despite the fact that she had already retorted me back.


    ''What a vengeful bitch,'' I thought.


    "Today, I only would like to talk to you that you should act obediently when you are in our custody, and we will not maltreat you." The chief finally revealed his reasons to meet us.


    "Try to enjoy your stay as much as possible," he added.


    "That''s it?" I asked.


    "Yes. That''s it. Your family will know our demand later." The chief replied to me back and called the guard outside of the cottage.


    "Guards, come in here and take these two young masters back to their cell."


    The two guards then came inside the room and prepared to walked us out. However, before we left the cottage, as the guards were turning their backs to us to open the door, I looked at Dawei to signal.


    Now, the time had come. I then suddenly removed the rod that tied both of my hands into the space ring. Then, I instantly brought the knife out of my space and quickly cut Dawei loose.


    The bandit chief and the girl now knew something was wrong. However, before they were able to act, I promptly threw a couple of silenced pistols at Dawei. He swiftly grabbed them and shot the two guards in the back. Then, he pointed the gun at the bandit chief and the door to prevent other people from coming in.


    On the other hand, I also moved quickly with an increasing speed from my boot items to the arrogance chief''s daughter. Then, I pressed my knife into the girl''s neck. She twisted with pain but did not dare to move. She could only bit her lips to endure the pain and humiliation.


    "So, chief Hector, I believe we may have additional leverage. What do you think about our proposal now?" I asked with a devious smile.

 Chapter 26: Proposal negotiation

    *** Third person''s POV ***


    Chief Hector''s back was full of sweat now. He thought, "What did he do wrong? Why the seemingly overwhelming advantage situation has turned into a crushing disadvantage state." He didn''t know how these two young masters could untie themselves so quickly and hid the weapons. Perhaps, the guys who searched them made a mistake. If that is the case, when he got out of this situation, those guys should be dead!


    It was very unfortunate to those misunderstood and pitiful underlings. The bandits'' chief probably could have never guessed the real explanation why Murong and Dawei performed the escaping task so smoothly. It definitely wasn''t that those bandits were careless. Who would have thought that Murong would have a magical ring that could make things appear and disappear at will? Both of them also had been checked, and no weapons were found in their bodies.


    "It may seem that you get more advantage. But, you are still in our lair. Do you think you can escape?" Laura still didn''t yield. She retorted Murong back.


    "Who says we will escape?" Murong asked with a smirk.


    "Won''t you?" Laura asked back.


    "Second Lieutenant Wuya? Can you hear me? Are you guys in positions?" Murong asked through his walkie-talkie.


    "...." No one immediately responded to Murong. Only silence and static noise could be heard.


    "Umm," Laura sneered. "What are you playing? Do you think we will believe .."


    Laura didn''t get a chance to complete the sentence. The sound from the walkie-talkie interrupted.


    "Young master. We are in a position. We are ready to strike at them anytime now." A plain voice from a person on another side of the walkie-talkie responded.


    Both Hector and Laura showed astonished faces when they heard the conversation. When Murong saw their expressions, he felt really gratified.


    "Let me tell you. We actually let you capture us. But we have a transmitter hidden in our bodies. Our family soldiers can trace us anytime. And they were following us overnight back to your camp." Murong boasted.


    "If we give them a signal to attack the village, and together with us from within, do you think we won''t succeed in escaping?" Murong continued to brag and smirked.


    When both Hector and Luara heard that, their faces went as white as a sheet. They didn''t want to imagine how many casualties they would get from this Murong''s escaping plan.


    "Ok. Tell your men not to attack. We can negotiate." Chief Hector finally gave up and signed.


    "Dad!" Laura exclaimed.


    "Quiet, dear. Admit it. We lose this round." Old Hector ordered. He was the chief of the village. He wouldn''t use his emotion to make a decision like his daughter. After weighing up the pros and cons, he decided that negotiation was the best way to get out of this dire situation right now.


    "Wise decision," Murong insincerely praised with a wide grin. "So, let''s talk about our terms then."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "What do you want?" Chief Hector asked in a wariness manner.


    "Don''t have to be vigilant, chief. In fact, it is quite simple. You come to work for us. In exchange, we will pay you as I previously proposed." Muyong replied.


    Chief Hector heard Murong''s proposal. He couldn''t endure raising his eyebrows. He had never thought this young master would still like to recruit them.


    "Are you sure?" Chief Hector couldn''t help asking to confirm. Who in the right mind would openly recruit a minute-ago enemy into their ranks? Kidnappers, no less.


    "Yes, I am sure. However, there is no guarantee that the minute we let both of you go, you won''t betray us. So, I need hostages until we are able to trust you." Murong attested.


    "What hostages?" Old Hector looked at Murong with his squint eyes, full of distrust.


    "Your daughter, of course... And a few people in the village." Murong plainly replied as he was turning his face to ridicule Laura.


    "No way!" Laura suddenly retorted.


    "Do you expect us to trust you? Just a minute ago, you kidnaped, threatened, and mocked us. What more do you hope for? At least, you will live comfortably in the capital until we have confidence in your village." Murong argued back to Laura.


    Laura didn''t know how to respond to those comments. She could only keep quiet, but she couldn''t help express her dissatisfactory face, while chief Hector still remained in his calm. After a short while, he finally said.


    "Ok. I agree. Call your men in."


    "Dad!"


    Murong ignored the protest from Laura and began ordering his soldier through the walkie-talkie.


    "Second Lieutenant Wuya. The bandits agreed to negotiate with us. Actually, they have already agreed to our terms. You could send someone down here to pick up hostages..Umm..our guests."


    "Affirmative, young master. A few of our men and I will go there real quick." Wuya replied.


    ...


    Fifteen minutes later, second Lieutenant Wuya and five other people were walking into the bandit camp. At first, all the bandits were dumbfounded. Why were those people coming here? Had they just let them go two days ago? But why they came back? In this world, are there stupid pigs that ran away from the butchers and came back to their slaughterhouse?


    "Stop! Give up your guns!" one of the bandits shouted.


    "You might as well like to check with your superior," Wuya laughed. The bandits looked at each other, confused. Then, one of them ran to find their chief.


    It didn''t take long until that person came back with a face like a wet weekend because of the chief''s bad news. Soon, all the bandits knew what was going on, and they were in an uproar. However, they respected their chief''s decision and let these soldiers come inside their camp to the chief''s cottage.


    Second lieutenant Wuya together with a few soldiers, entered the cottage and reported to Dawei and Murong.


    "Young master." The soldiers saluted to Murong''s duo.


    "You guys can be at ease," Murong told his subordinates and continued to order his men. "Second Lieutenant Tianlong, you can take this young lady with a few other people back to the capital and get them settled down in our Chen family house."


    "Yes, sir." Second lieutenant Tianlong promptly replied.


    "But, you have to be careful. She is very smart. Don''t let her escape your sight or surveillance when she is in the capital." Murong told Tianlong and winked at Laura.


    She saw Murong was teasing her. She felt frustrated and stormed out of the room with second lieutenant Tianlong.


    In fact, there was another reason that Murong chose this woman to be a hostage. It was not just she was a chief''s daughter. After interactions for quite a while, he suddenly recalled one of the famous female leaders in the Borderlands region in his past life, the Illusionist Rose Queen. Pretty, intelligent, but full of thorns that could harm you. Even though Murong had never met this woman himself before, but from the description, Murong thought it must be this girl. She must obtain her skill in the dungeon around here.


    If she was that good in her past life, he couldn''t allow her to change job so fast. Keeping her as a hostage would keep her from knowing what we are doing and had a proper time to tame her.


    Murong then instructed his remaining men to disarmed the bandits and secured the area. After that, they left the cottage to do what Murong ordered.


    Once other people except Murong and Dawei were gone, Murong turned his serious face and spoke to chief Hector.


    "Now, let''s talk about our remaining business, shall we?"

 Chapter 27: The mysterious force

    *** Third person''s POV continued ***


    The old Hector heard what Murong said. He then sighed and sat on his favorite chair.


    "So, what do you want us to do next?" asked Hector.


    "Nothing much. First, I would like to know more about your associates? Who asked you to capture us?" responded Murong, sitting on the opposite of the chief Hector.


    "To tell you the truth. I don''t know," Hector confessed. "Every time they contact us, another side has never revealed who they are. I only know the butler''s name. It''s Sebastien."


    "No last name? It''s even a very common name," commented Murong.


    "If that is his real name at all," added Dawei.


    "Yes, I know," chief Hector couldn''t argue about his worthless information. "However, I know that they must be an influential force since they smuggled a lot of weapons for our village. Some weapons even prohibit in the Xia Kingdom due to their wide-range destructive power."


    "Ummm," Dawei and Murong consented to the chief response and lost in their thoughts. The question about who was the mastermind behind the scene was very important to them. They had to know their enemy in order to strike back or, at least, prevent any more surprise in the future.


    "So, who could it be? Ye family? It is too early to plot against us compared to the previous timeline, and our family shouldn''t have other immediate enemies. Maybe, there was something that I missed in my previous life? Maybe, this was the result of the butterfly effect from my rebirth?" Murong continued on his line of thought.


    Since there was no concrete answer from the chief, Murong had proceeded with another investigation.


    "You said they delivered you some weapons. Where are they? Take us to see them." Murong finally said after contemplating.


    "That''s not going to be a problem. They are still in our warehouse next to this cottage. Just follow me," the chief replied. He then led Murong and Dawei to the place where he kept the delivered weapons.


    The warehouse where chief Hector kept the weapons was composed of four wooden walls and roofing. It was a plain building with no windows. It was not large but was not small either. There was one aged timber door, and there were only two guards standing in front of it. The first thought when Murong saw the bandit''s warehouse is that the chief may be boasting. Their security was lacking considering the weapons that he mentioned.


    However, when he looked at the inside of the warehouse, he was stunned. There were so many weapons! Or he rather said it was too many!


    "Why do you need so many weapons here?" Dawei suddenly asked. Evidently, he had the same thought as Murong.


    "You guys might not know the situation around here. We have no central authorities over here. Every village has to fend for itself in the Borderlands region. There was a time when it was more peaceful, but in recent years, tension had been building up in the area, and several bandit groups had emerged. We had to collect weapons to defend ourselves."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "So, you said all other villages around here also accumulate weapons?" suspiciously asked Dawei.


    "Yes. Do you think we want to be bandits? In the past, we were just a peaceful hunter village. We have to adapt ourselves. Otherwise, our village would be wiped out a long time ago." Hector plainly pointed out their reasons.


    "Ummm," both Murong and Dawei reluctantly agreed. Morality didn''t equal survival.


    "I think something is not right here," Dawei said to Murong in a whisper voice.


    "I agreed," Murong whispered back. "It doesn''t make sense why this area has been filled up with weapons. There is no strategic value in this area for anyone."


    As Dawei and Murong discussed this peculiar situation, they continued to walk around this warehouse. At the far end of the warehouse, which was only dimly lit by a single bulb, a pile of missile launchers had been insecurely stacked.


    Dawei turned his face to the chief. "You even have missile launchers in your stock?" he said. "Are you defending yourself or going on a full-scale warfare with each other?"


    Chief Hector just laughed, "Well, you will be surprised to know what kind of weapons other villages have?"


    "Really?" exclaim Dawei.


    "Yes," Hector responded with a smile.


    "Well, I don''t think he was kidding," Murong consciously added.


    Then, Murog and Dawei investigated more. They checked the weapons that the chief was talking about to see whether they could find a clue there. After checking the weapons, it reaffirmed Murong''s hypothesis that it shouldn''t be Ye''s family. The weapon signature didn''t match any weapon shops in the Xia Kingdom. They must be imported from outside of the kingdom, most likely Laputa. So, Murong still couldn''t solve this mysteriousness in a short time.


    Then, without any other choices, Murong asked the bandits to pretend to fail the mission and worked for him as an insider man, waiting to collect any more clues. When they obtained any critical information, they should send the intel back to him.


    Once Murong settled down with chief Hector about the next course of action regarding this mysterious force. The next step would be to resume their original goals of this trip, finding a dungeon and surveying the land.


    Now, they had more slaves..cough..no more workers. The work that they set to do could be easily done, and, in the future, these bandits could prove to be useful. As Dawei and Murong were walking out of the chief Hector''s warehouse, they found Robert, the head of the Drunken Spirit mercenary team. He stood in front of the cottage, waiting for them.


    "Hello...young masters," Robert said.


    "Hello...Robert?" Murong said.


    Suddenly, he dropped on his knee and said.


    "We are sorry. Please forgive our team that we couldn''t protect you."


    "There is nothing to forgive. You don''t do anything wrong. The bandits were well-prepared. Even higher rating mercenary team, they couldn''t do anything better." Murong assured Robert.


    "But..." Robert tried to retort because he was still full of his uncomfortable guilt.


    "No, but. If you would like to compensate for it, just continue to do your work. We haven''t finished here," Murong added


    "Got it, young master. We will do our best!" Robert firmly replied.


    Murong then asked the mercenary to guard the perimeter with their soldiers as Dawei and Murong tried to look for the location of the mineral mines and dungeon portal. However, it took them quite a while until they found anything concrete.


    After 14 days, they discovered the clues of the mines, but they still couldn''t find the entrance of the dungeon. Therefore, Murong asked Dawei''s opinion about what to do next.


    Murong proposed that they should take more time and ask their soldiers to help to find the dungeon''s entrance. It might be risky since they didn''t know who the traitor was. But Murong thought it worth the risk. In any case, he had already carefully chosen these accompanied soldiers himself.


    Dawei nodded in agreement. He also understood that this dungeon would play a vital role in the Chen family base''s development.


    With the help of the Chen family''s soldiers, the area that they could cover extended significantly. After a few more days, they finally found what they were looking for, the fuzzy transparent portal in the air. It actually not far from the bandit''s village, but it was hidden in the cave. No wonder this village was able to outgrow other villages in the past.


    After finding a portal, Dawei and Murong then assembled the team to explore this dungeon.

 Chapter 28: The Borderlands dungeon

    *** Third person¡¯s POV continued. ***


    The people that Murong selected to be in the dungeon team except Dawei and him were second lieutenant Chen Wuya, second lieutenant Chen Liang, and second lieutenant Chen Juren. It was not coincident that these people had ¡°Chen¡± as their family name. It was customary for the big family in the Xia Kingdom to adopt orphans who had potential into the family. So, these soldiers, in a sense, could be considered as their Chen family members.


    In fact, this was not the only reason that Murong included them in the group. These people also died in Murong¡¯s past life when the Chen family was abolished. So, Murong thought it was a safe bet to trust them with this dungeon secret. However, he wouldn¡¯t tell them the detail.


    Actually, last night, when Murong consulted with Dawei about letting some of the trusted soldiers knew this teleportation-like dungeon portal secret, they concluded that it shouldn¡¯t matter much if this secret leaked. It was a lucky coincidence that teleportation technology was one of their Chen family specialties. Other people would only think that this must be one of their family testing sites for new teleportation technology. As long as they didn¡¯t mention anything about the apocalypse, no one should think otherwise.


    ¡°In a minute, we will teleport into another place which it may have monsters that we have to kill,¡± Murong announced to the group. ¡°This is the secret of our family. Don¡¯t talk about what happens to anybody else.¡±


    ¡°Yes, young master!¡± the group responded.


    Then, Murong showed the group how to enter the dungeon. When the group entered the dungeon, the usual sound rang up in their head.


    ¡°Ding! Welcome to Maldreg dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Dungeon class: Soldier.¡±


    ¡°Dungeon type: Team dungeon. Five people limit.¡±


    ¡°Dungeon objective: Eliminating Maldreg tribe within 24 hours of the time limit.¡±


    ¡°Dungeon time ratio: 1:12.¡±


    ¡°Dungeon fail''s penalty: Spiritual energy accumulation reduced by 10%.¡±


    ¡°If there are no more people joining, the dungeon will start automatically in 30 minutes.¡±


    ¡°If you wish to come back later, you can touch the portal and think ¡®Exit.¡¯ ¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡­


    ¡°Five people detected. Dungeon start.¡±


    Muyong and Dawei casually listened to the system''s announcement while the three soldiers were looking around with a curious and confusing look.


    ¡°Did you know it will be five people limit dungeon?¡± Dawei asked Murong in a whisper voice.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I only guessed. Most dungeons have a minimum limit of five people.¡± Murong whispered back. Then, he turned his face to the remaining soldiers and spoke to them.


    ¡°Ok. You might be confused about what you hear in your head just now. We won¡¯t explain it to you for the time being. Just follow our instructions as always.¡±


    ¡°First, as you heard, our mission here is to kill whatever we find in this place. Then, let¡¯s survey the surroundings first. We will meet here again every 30 minutes until anyone finds something useful. Are there any questions?¡±


    ¡°No, young master!¡± the soldiers responded and saluted.


    Then, their group started assessing the dungeon. It turned out that this dungeon was set up in the middle of the forest. The starting point where the portal was located was on the west hill of the dungeon. Beyond the west hill, there were two other hills in the north and the south, with the valley among three of them.


    After about thirty minutes, all soldiers but one came back and reported what they saw to Murong and Dawei. Basically, they found nothing interesting. They found only trees and some animals like a usual forest. However, ten minutes later, the last soldier came back, and he reported something interesting to Murong and Dawei.


    ¡°Young masters, I saw the village in the valley on the east direction from here,¡± second lieutenant Chen Liang said.


    ¡°Were there any people in the village?¡± Murong asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell, young master. I didn¡¯t go that far and came back to report to you,¡± the last soldier, Chen Liang, replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± Murong said to Chen Liang.


    Then, he told the group. ¡°We all will go together. Other directions didn¡¯t have anything unusual except the trees and bushes. Chen Liang¡¯s news is the best clue we get so far.¡±


    ¡°Yes, young master!¡± the soldiers responded.


    Therefore, they all traveled to the edge of the west hill. At the rim of the hill, Murong gazed towards the landscape beyond the steep slope that they were on. Below, there was indeed a large village surrounded by several meadows on all sides. Dawei also pointed his finger in the distance and said.


    ¡°Look! Some people are walking out of the village.¡±


    ¡°If you could call them people?¡± Murong said with a smile on his face and handed his binocular to Dawei. Dawei received a binocular from Murong and looked through it. What he saw through binocular made him felt surprised. Those things weren¡¯t people that he first thought. He saw tiny green monsters with deformed looks in hunter clothes appeared.


    ¡°¡­ Goblins?¡± Dawei said with uncertainty as he handed the binocular to other soldiers.


    ¡°Apparently,¡± Murong replied. ¡°And from the look of it, they have like 20-30 soldiers.¡±


    ¡°What should we do then?¡± Dawei asked.


    ¡°These goblins aren¡¯t that good. They are just the lowest evolution of goblins. We can definitely kill them all with our weapons,¡± Murong said and paused a little bit. ¡°However, let¡¯s watch them for quite some time to make sure there would be no surprise.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Dawei said. Then, Murong ordered the soldier to set up a temporary camp while he and Dawei observed the goblin village.


    After three hours of observing, it was finally paid off. Dawei saw two goblins that seem to be different from other goblins and nudged Murong.


    ¡°Those two goblins seem different than others,¡± Dawei told Murong as he handed the binocular to Murong. Murong looked at those two that Dawei mentioned.


    ¡°You are right,¡± Murong said. ¡°Those two aren¡¯t ordinary goblins. They are warrior and warlock goblins.¡±


    ¡°Warrior and warlock goblins? How do you know which one is which?¡± Dawei asked.


    ¡°One of them has a shiny sword, and another one has a totem staff. Those are their weapon signatures,¡± Murong replied.


    ¡°So, should we worry about them?¡±


    ¡°A little. We shouldn¡¯t fight both of them at the same time. It is too risky. We should try to separate them,¡± Murong responded.


    ¡°What about we lured one of them out?¡± Dawei suggested.


    ¡°How?¡± Murong asked back.


    ¡°You saw that hunting party? We could capture them and let one of them flee back to their village. I bet they would send one of their prime force to help.¡±


    Murong considered it. ¡°What if they both come at the same time?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. However, if that is the case, we still have an advantage. We could prepare some traps in advance.¡± Dawei replied.


    Murong stared at that hunting party that Dawei mentioned.


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do it. Let¡¯s call our soldiers and prepare to capture those beasts.¡±

 Chapter 29: The warrior goblin

    *** Third person''s POV continued. ***


    Murong''s group then followed the goblin hunting party''s direction until these goblins ventured out far enough from its village. Then, they prepared an ambush between its village and the hunting site so that they could capture the hunting party on the way back.


    "I think this is a good spot," Dawei said.


    "I agree," Murong nodded. "Let''s place some traps and hide behind those bushes."


    Murong''s team then began setting up some animal traps on the floor and concealed them with a pile of leaves. Dawei also prepared sharp wooden spikes on the tree trunk that he found. This big trunk would swing to the goblin that stumbled upon the transparent piano string on the floor, killing it without question.


    After Murong''s group finished setting up the traps, they then scattered all around the area, silently waiting behind the bush.


    They didn''t have to wait for long, though. After about an hour, they could hear the growls of those goblins coupled with their faint footsteps approaching. Apparently, that goblin hunting party was already on the way back. They leisurely walked and happily hummed the goblin''s rhythm with their preys on their cart.


    Poor goblins. They didn''t even know that, in a short moment, they would also become the prey themselves for Murong''s team.


    This goblin hunting party consisted of only four goblins, so it wasn''t so hard for Murong''s team to capture all of them if they would like to. However, they planned to capture most goblins but one. Therefore, when these unfortunate goblins arrived, Murong''s team only focused on disabling the front three goblins, leaving the scared goblin in the back to flee. However, when the chosen one finally successfully escaped, they immediately killed three captured goblins to reduce the risk of facing more enemies later.


    So, that lucky goblin (but probably not for long) fleed from the scene without knowing Murong''s team plan and thinking that its hunting mates still survived. It had to come back for them! It immediately informed its tribe about this first encounter enemy, and then it came back with another battalion of goblins to rescue their tribemates.


    Fortunately, it was like what Dawei predicted. Only one of the special goblins came, and it happened to be the warrior goblin.


    These low-level goblins weren''t that intelligent. Even though they knew there were enemies waiting for them, they still openly marched to the site and planned to overwhelm Murong''s team with just only their brutal forces.


    As expected, they soon met with their disappointment. With the over advantage of a firearm, the goblin minions were killed in just a few minutes. Only the warrior goblin was left. The warrior goblin roared in an angry voice and rushed toward Murong''s team.


    Murong''s team then fired with everything they had to that warrior goblin. Regrettably, unlike the other minion goblins, the warrior goblin had metallic armor on all over its body, and the bullets were bounced from that armor. They only scratched the armor but couldn''t penetrate it.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Now, the warrior goblin was in close proximity to Murong''s group. Therefore, Murong and the gang changed their weapons from guns to close combat weapons such as swords and blades. However, the warrior goblin''s sword and its swordsmanship were too exceptional and unpredictable. It managed to suppress Murong''s party move before they were even able to coordinate the attack. The constant flow of strikes forced Murong''s party into a situation where they could only defend without being able to counterattack. They even had to change their swords several times due to their fractures during bumping with the goblin''s sword.


    Clearly, its sword wasn''t an ordinary one. The only thing that kept them from losing so far was Murong and Dawei''s swordsmanship.


    "This doesn''t work!" Dawei shouted after another of his sword was broken. "Let''s have some people separated and attacked it from the long-range using fire arrow. If we couldn''t penetrate its armor, just burn it alive!"


    "Agree!" Murong shouted. "Wuya! Liang! Both of you do as Dawei said!"


    "Yes, young master!" Chen Wuya and Chen Liang replied. They instantaneously retreated and moved out of the goblin''s weapon range.


    The warrior goblin tried to follow those two guys at first, but the remaining three people tried to keep it busy.


    In fact, among the remaining three, Chen Juren was already at his limit. He was sweating all over his body now. Had it not been for Murong and Dawei''s constant pressuring that didn''t allow the warrior goblin to catch any breath, he would''ve already been dead several times long ago.


    "The two young masters were really good at swordsmanship," Chen Juren thought.


    Not even while dreaming could he ever imagine fighting with someone with swordsmanship as fearsome as this. The swordsmanship skill of two young masters could render the difference in the raw power of the weapon. At this moment, Murong and Dawei''s performance wasn''t like that of an ordinary soldier level at all.


    Behind Murong''s trio, Chen Wuya and Chen Liang had finally finished preparing the fire arrow. They shouted.


    "We gonna shoot!"


    When Murong heard that, he immediately used kinematic force field skill from his black moon cape. The shield reflected the warrior goblin back from Murong''s trio, creating the opportunity for Wuya and Liang to shoot.


    Even though Chen Wuya and Chen Liang didn''t know how their young master did that, they didn''t waste this great opportunity. They shot the arrow with a fire on its head at the warrior goblin without any slight hesitation.


    After the fire arrows attached to the body of the warrior goblin, Murong then poured a gallon of oil onto this goblin''s body. The warrior goblin then cried with pain and suffering. It also suffocated from the fire that covered all over its head. It tried to roll its body to put up the fire but in vain. Finally, the cried stop and the burnt smell was spread over the area.


    Murong then approached the warrior goblin corpse and salvaged its items. He picked up its armor and sword. Then, the information of these two items appeared in his head.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Goblin''s armor


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: C


    Passive skill: Increase physical defense +5 level


    No cooldown limits.


    Restriction: Warrior related profession


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Goblin''s sword


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: C


    Passive skill: Increase physical attack +5 level


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    "They are not bad," Murong thought. He then kept the armor and the sword in his storage ring.


    "Ok. It''s time to eliminate those in the village." Murong said to the group.

 Chapter 30: Goblin village

    After finished salvaging goblins'' items, Murong''s party quietly approached the goblin''s village. They took advantage of those careless village goblins to get rid of them with a surprise attack. They shot those goblins with several rifle shots.


    When the goblins in the village surmised what was going on, they roared and charged out of the village to the team''s hiding direction. These foolish goblins didn''t even try to hide or find the cover. They just only charged directly to the enemy full of firearms, and as expected, they quickly followed their mates'' footsteps. Murong''s party responded to them with another round of bullets rain.


    The frontline goblins died instantly, and there were only two goblin lefts, the warlock and one of the usual look goblin.


    "Kyaak!" the usual look goblin growled while the warlock goblin mumbled something.


    Murong''s team didn''t wait for those two to react further. They swiftly fired another round of bullets.


    However, this time, something happened. Just before those bullets could reach those two goblins, the blue transparent dome appeared around them. The moment that the blue dome appeared around those goblins, the countless bullet attacks that flew towards them stopped in mid-air and dropped on the ground.


    The warlock goblin smirked to mock when all bullets from Murong''s team couldn''t penetrate its shield.


    "Magic shield!" Dawei exclaimed.


    However, Murong just let out a cold snort and drew his sword without backing down. Then, he sprinted very fast and slashed toward the warlock goblin. At first, the goblin didn''t care, but after it took a good look at the sword, its sweat had emerged on its forehead. The warlock goblin was realized that this was its friend''s sword. The warlock goblin stunned and immediately avoided Murong''s sword. Unfortunately, it reacted a little too late.


    "Garrr!" the warlock exclaimed from the pain. It was caught off guard by Murong''s successful attempt at penetrating its shield. Not only that, Murong instantly took the initiative and lashed out at the goblin without sparing a single moment.


    Next to Murong, another goblin didn''t just do nothing. Once it concluded that its friend was in danger, it immediately put its weapons to defend the warlock goblin. As anticipated, this goblin wasn''t Murong''s rival. Its weapon was instantly broken when it battered with Murong. However, it slowed Murong down, and it was enough for the warlock goblin to finish another spell. The warlock goblin shot a spell to burst the door of one of the huts.


    "Boom!" the explosion sound rang from that hut close to the three soldiers. The white smoke from the collapse of the hut was circulated around that spot. After the smoke was cleared, there was a giant creature stood there.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    This creature looked like a goblin, but its height was nearly three meters tall compared to one and a half meters in size for an ordinary goblin, which made it really shocking. It was a hulking, giant humanoid monster with a dirty skin tone. It had no hair, gnarled teeth, and tusks with a little animal-skin loincloth.


    As everyone recognized it from the fantasy movies, their faces twisted with anxiety. This kind of creature was often very hard to deal with, not to mention its scary big body.


    "Don''t irritate it, and slowly move backward," Dawei whispered. The other three soldiers quickly nodded at those words. They all silently came to the same consensus.


    However, the creature didn''t allow them to act as they planned. At the moment that a giant monster saw Dawei and the gang, it started to roar and walked toward the four of them. Chen Juren was the closet one, and he was too anxious when that creature approached him. Even if he previously agreed not to aggravate this creature, he still drew his gun to fire at that creature when it slowly closed the distance, forgetting the previous consensus.


    "Bang! Bang! Bang!" the bullets scratched its skin. A little bit of green blood was seen around the creature''s shallow wound. They clearly needed a more formidable weapon to kill this durable creature.


    At the same time, Murong saw what happened to those four, and he instantly knew that he had to hurriedly finish these two goblins and helped them. That creature was a giant goblin-troll hybrid, and its endurance was high. They needed to use this special sword to kill that creature off. However, he had to decapitate the warlock goblin first before it tried any formidable spell.


    "Hold on! I''ll help you guys in a minute. I have to kill this warlock goblin first." Murong shouted with worry. He knew that these guys hadn''t known how to fight with this creature. So, he wasn''t sure how long they would last.


    Now, Murong really put all of his efforts into putting an end to this warlock goblin''s life. The sound of Murong''s slash was continuously generated, and, finally, the usual look goblin was the first to go. The warlock goblin was in such despair. It was as if it was pushed into a world of unlimited blade storms that barraged it with one strike after another nonstop. During that long and grueling time, the warlock goblin could only painstakingly dodge.


    The warlock''s situation was in such a mess. The situation didn''t go as it had planned. It thought the giant goblin would draw Murong''s attention and buy it time to cast a much more destructive spell. However, Murong didn''t fall for its trick. So, it was destined to die by Murong today.


    After expending lots of effort, Murong finally cut the warlock goblin into halves. But before he managed to catch his breath and rested, he hurriedly sprinted toward the direction of that giant goblin-troll hybrid.


    "Clang! Kwab! Bang!" the sound of sword slashing, giant goblin claw cutting, and bullet firing were exploding again and again in the area.


    When Murong arrived at the scene, the three soldiers almost cried out of joy. They were at their limits. Even they had Dawei in the group, the four of them still didn''t match that giant goblin. No matter how much they cut it with blades or how many bullets they shot, they were only as threatening as a flock of ants to the human. It could cause some pain but not able to land the fatal ones.


    "Get back! It is a giant goblin. We need to use a special item to kill it." Murong shouted and immediately approached the giant goblin. Without ceremony, Murong aimed the blade to cut the giant goblin''s throat. In contrast to the warlock goblin, this giant goblin-troll hybrid was dumb. It wasn''t even tried to dodge Murong''s sword. When Murong was slashing with his sword, it was still using its claw, trying to catch Murong.


    Not surprisingly, Murong ended its life with swift action, leaving the giant goblin-troll hybrid corpse lied still on the floor.

 Chapter 31: Unexpected rewards

    Now, all the threats had been eliminated and, before Murong got a chance to look around the scene, the sound of the system rang up in everyone''s mind.


    "Ding! Congratulations! Mission accomplished. You have eliminated the Maldreg tribe within the time limit. You will be teleported back outside the dungeon in fifteen minutes. If you would like to get out of here sooner, you could go back to use the dungeon portal."


    "Ding! You can choose one of the three rewards from clearing this dungeon."


    "Ding! Please select one of the choices below.


    1. Awakening spiritual sense


    2. Soldier rank random item


    3. Profession changing: Psychic, Formation master, Crafter (The font color is ranged from red to green. The green color means you are perfectly suitable for this profession. You could change your profession on the red color font, but it is not recommended.)


    Murong told the three soldiers to choose option three and asked what color did they get to collect the information. It turned out that everyone got red color. What a shame! It would be nice if some of them had these professions so that they could change their professions here in the future. Now, they had to find another dungeon for these guys to change their professions.


    Then, Murong glanced at Dawei to see how he was doing. He knew right away that Dawei had already selected the second option. He saw Dawei holding a shinny white grove in his hand with care, thinking something. Murong then chose the second option too. There was no point in waiting. The moment he chose the second option, the steel sword appeared in the air, slowly floating to him. He reached his right hand to catch it, and its properties appeared in his mind.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Steel sword


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: D


    Passive skill: Increase physical attack +4 level


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ''Oh, the reward this time isn''t as good as I thought it would be,'' Murong thought. ''It is even worse than the sword I got from that warrior goblin. No wonder Dawei didn''t say anything."


    However, the reality was far from Murong''s thoughts. It was quite the opposite. The reason Dawei hadn''t say anything yet because he was in shock at how good the item was.


    After Murong kept the sword into his space ring, he then asked his brother, Dawei.


    "So, what is it? You seemed quiet this time."


    "Take a look by yourselves," Dawei said as he handed the glove to Murong to see.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    As soon as Murong touched the glove, the details of the item were revealed to him.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Crystal fiber glove. The glove was made of crystal fiber from a very rare plant in the Langarian realm.


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: SSS


    Passive skill:


    1) Increase spiritual attack +9 level


    2) Increase spiritual energy accumulation from the environment by 50%


    Active skill:


    1) Attractive force manipulation (Can make any objects which are located within 1-meter diameter spherical field around the user flying to the glove with no cooldown limits)


    2) Gravity manipulation (Can make any objects subjected to one-tenth to ten times of normal gravity as long as the objects were within a 1-meter diameter spherical field around the user. Limit to 10 minutes every 24 hours.)


    3) History revelation. (Revealed the history of the touched object for the past 24 hrs. Limit to once every 24 hours.)


    Restriction: Psychic related profession


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ''My god! SSS grade!'' Murong was extremely excited. This kind of grade was super rare even in his past life, and most people who got them definitely didn''t announce it for other people to know.


    When he carefully looked more at the details of the items, he couldn''t stop smiling. The skills were really cool and really matched with Dawei''s style. With this skill, Dawei would no doubt be the number one psychic user at the beginning of the apocalypse in the future for sure. No one could compete with him. Even at the later stage of the apocalypse, this item was definitely still useful.


    In addition, Murong thought that it was very effective and convenient to obtain secret information from the enemy using this "History revelation." The enemy might not suspect a thing because it was just a touch.


    Murong signed with relief. No wonder his item was not good despite the fact that the dungeon was so tricky, and we were even the first group to clear it. It seemed the luck in getting his item had been transferred to Dawei. But, he was happy for him nonetheless.


    ''It would be better this way, I guess,'' Murong thought. ''One good item is definitely better than two ordinary items.''


    So, the next step was to wait for the system to teleport them out. However, Murong suddenly remembered that warlock goblin''s corpse. He walked back to that corpse and tried to find the totem staff that the warlock goblin used. After looking around and flipping the remains of the half-corpse, he finally found what he was looking for.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    Item status


    Name: Goblin''s totem


    Class: Soldier


    Grade: C


    Passive skill: Increase physical attack of the spell +5 level


    No cooldown limits.


    ----------------------------------------------------------


    ''Well, it is not bad,'' Murong thought. ''Even though it is worse than the golden phoenix wand that we have already gotten, it has no profession limit. Other people could use it, or we could sell it.''


    As Murong was thinking about all the items that he had collected so far, Chen Wuya''s trio approached him.


    Chen Juren then spoke to Murong. "Er...Young master. We know that you don''t want us to ask but... we kind of hope that you could clarify something more about those things we heard."


    "If not, it was also ok for us.", Chen Juren also hurried added, knowing that this was a sensitive question.


    Murong looked at the three. Evidently, Chen Liang and Chen Wuya also definitely would like to know from their poorly hidden eager look. However, because of their usual reserved personality, they still kept themselves quiet and let Chen Juren be the one who talked.


    "Very well. You guys definitely earned it. And I trust you guys." Murong said. "It was a complicated story. For now, let''s just say our family found this new phenomenon due to our secret research, and we tried to take advantage of it without revealing it to the outside world just yet. You would imagine how much profit we could get, right?"


    The three nodded in unison. "Yes, young master."


    "As you can see, we could develop ourselves. Got some special items if we clear this dungeon. However, it comes with a risk. You could see that it was dangerous as well." Murong added and continued. "However, no good profit without taking a risk."


    What Murong said did make sense to them. Then, the trio didn''t have any more questions. So, after Murong finished explaining to the three, the fifteen minutes were up. They then teleported back to the dungeon portal, ending the exciting and mysterious day for the trios.

 Chapter 32: Xia Kingdoms political body

    It was almost dark when Murong''s team got out of the dungeon, so they hurriedly went back to the village. On the way, they met with Robert''s mercenary squad and told them that their tasks for this trip were all finished. So, they could stop guarding the perimeter and came back with them to the village to rest. Tomorrow, they all would go back to Beidu city first thing in the morning.


    When Robert''s team heard that, they were glad. Finally, this lengthy mission had already ended. However, they wouldn''t make the same mistake twice. They were still vigilant. Nothing was set in stone until they truly stepped on Beidu city.


    When Murong''s team arrived at the chief Hector''s village, Murong immediately came to discuss the remaining plans with Chief Hector before he went to rest. As he previously enforcedly made an agreement with him, Murong reminded chief Hector to do what they had already planned, spying and reporting to him. Murong also hinted that Hector shouldn''t have any funny ideas because this domain might fall under his family''s jurisdiction in the future. In a way, he should consider himself lucky that his village would be one of the thief villages that survived the cleansing.


    Hector heard what Muyong said and nodded. However, he still didn''t think too much of it. Which family would like to switch their family territory to this wilderness region? Especially, this Chen family''s current territory was very prosperous. He heard that just for the commercial tax alone was enough to support ten times the size of the city itself, or perhaps even more.


    ''He must be bluffing,'' Hector thought. ''He must think that I would plan to betray him, and he needs to give me another persuasion¡ªsuch a waste of time and an unnecessary act.''


    ''Umm...actually, I would use the "wait and see" plan first. Find out who would be the better backer. Then, I would see whether I could safely take my daughter back from him. As long as my daughter still stayed in Chen family as a hostage, I couldn''t freely betray him.'' Hector unceasingly thought.


    In Fact, Murong also sensed the doubt from chief Hector''s facial expression, but he didn''t care. Time would tell chief Hector what would be the right decision for him soon. As soon as he came back home, he would recommend his grandfather to submit the exchange territory proposal right away.


    After finishing a discussion with chief Hector, it was time for Murong to go back to rest. So, Murong and the gang stayed in a village for another night. And, the next morning, they drove back to Beidu city, ending the borderlands region trip.


    ...


    Before Gondola period


    Blue planet''s calendar ¨C 24th February 2024 (321 days before the apocalypse)


    Xia kingdom ¨C Kunming


    Chen Manor


    ...


    Murong and Dawei had gone for almost a month. During that time, the remaining family members also didn''t stay put. Chen Murong found that his father and mother had already stocked a lot of materials in different family''s warehouses. They also signed quite a few purchasing contracts for future batches of materials. Uncle Chen Fang also gathered a lot of information about the Borderlands region. It would surely prove to be useful when the family drafted the comprehensive plan to go there.


    Apart from the family members'' businesses, Chen Murong also asked for an update on the guests he forcefully invited from the Borderlands region. He stopped by and asked Chen Tianlong about the situation of all the hostages, especially Laura.


    Chen Tianlong told Murong that they were ok. He had placed them in the right-wing of the manor. They were responsible for helping the maids in cleaning their quarters and gardening for the time being. He assigned some guards to monitor them and restricted them to some areas of the manor.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "That''s ok then," Murong said. "For now, I put you in charge of them. You could manage them yourself or assign anyone to help you."


    "Yes, young master." Chen Tianlong replied.


    Then, Murong went up of the manor to his grandfather''s working room. He noticed that his grandfather was still up because he saw that the light was still on. So, He knocked on the door.


    "Knock. Knock."


    "Come in," the old guy behind the door answered in a calm and welcome voice.


    "Grandfather, I am back," Murong greeted the old man while he was walking in the room. His grandfather sat behind his favorite wooden desk. In the past, the desk was neat and clean. But, right now, he noticed several documents were piled up on his desk. His grandfather currently resumed his duty as the family head after he had previously retired.


    "Good. You must be tired. How was your trip?" Chen Jinnan asked gently with benevolent eyes.


    "It''s good, grandfather. We found all of what we were looking for," Murong answered with a big grin. "So, we could proceed with the next step."


    "That''s good news, indeed." Chen Jinnan replied. "Actually, I''ve already submitted the proposal to the Official Office while we are waiting for your survey result."


    "Oh, you did?" Murong asked back.


    "Yes. But, I''ve not yet submitted to the Royal Court and the House of Lords, though." Chen Jinnan said. "I am waiting for you to come back to report to me before submitting to those two."


    "I see, grandpa. Yeah, I think it''s a good strategy." Murong said. Submitting to the Official Office beforehand would make the process go faster. It would also be easier to withdraw if they changed their minds later. The Royal Court and the House of Lords were more difficult and tricky to withdraw this kind of proposal.


    "I am glad you agreed." Chen Jinnan respond.


    "So, when do you plan to submit the proposal to the Royal Court and the House of Lords then?" Murong asked.


    "Probably, tomorrow. I don''t see the reason why we should wait any longer." Chen Jinnan replied.


    "I agree," Murong said.


    In the Xia Kingdom''s political body, there were three main factions, the Royal Court, the House of Lords, and the Official Office.


    The royal court, as its name dictated, it consisted of the people of the royal family. The person who had power over this faction was obviously the king. However, the king usually listened to all the princes'' opinions before making any major decisions.


    The second faction that, technically, had the largest collective power in the kingdom was the House of Lords. In fact, the House of Lords was established for the purpose of balancing the king''s power at the end of the Mount Taiyuan War. At that time, many major families had a lot of soldiers in their possessions. The royal family was afraid of the rebellion by those families if they were all allowed to keep the soldier at those levels.


    After a lengthy discussion between the royal family and the major families, a compromise was finally made between the two sides. The major families agreed that each of their individual families would reduce the number of possessed soldiers according to the new quota. In exchange, the House of Lords was created. Every new law that would be enforced in the future had to be approved by both the House of Lords and the Royal Court. The decision of the House of Lords would go with majority votes from representatives of each major family.


    Finally, the last faction in the kingdom was the Official Office. Its main duty was to deal with day-to-day operations in the kingdom, such as registration, tax, health care, education, and transportation. Their area of operation covered only the area that belonged to the royal family. They didn''t care about individual family territory if they weren''t requested by the territory owners. They only cared about the territory tax that the individual family had to pay for the king at the end of each year.


    Among these three factions, the most difficult barriers for most proposals were the Royal Court and the House of Lords. The Official Office would only check for the feasibility of the proposal and its correspond related laws. In fact, in this case, the Official Office would be thrilled to get rid of the Borderland region from its responsibility. The territory was a mess and full of bandits and thieves.


    "I think both factions would approve our proposal, grandfather. There is no reason not to." Murong said.


    "I hope so," Chen Jinnan said.


    "Then, if there is nothing else, I would like to excuse and go back to rest?" Murong asked.


    "Sure, good night Murong."


    "Good night, grandfather."


    Then, Murong left the room. On the way to his room, he was thinking about what he would do next. Now, the survey mission was finished. And, once the proposal was submitted, there was nothing else he could do to help with it. Perhaps, he now finally had time to pursue his personal desire.


    Yes! Finally! It was time to find his love partner in the previous life!

 Chapter 33: Finding Gu Bai

    Who was Gu Bai? This was probably the question that you might have in your mind right now when you read to this point. The answer was actually straightforward. Gu Bai was Murong''s first partner in his past life.


    Now, this answer raised more questions than it answered, I guessed. What happened to Nick? What happened to Gu Bai? Why had we never heard of him before? I know your minds were full of these questions right now. Please bear with me and let me try to answer your questions one by one.


    First question, what happened to Nick? This was probably the most intriguing question for those who were still thinking about the content in the first chapter and were still waiting for Murong to meet Nick. Well, I had both good and bad news for you. The good news was that Nick was still in the story. As for the bad news, Murong would not meet Nick for now. Or I rather said he could not.


    Some people would say, "Why?" The short answer was Nick wasn''t in Blue planet with Murong right now. At this time, he still lived on Earth. So, even if Murong wanted to greet him, he couldn''t meet him right now.


    However, if Murong met Nick now, he probably felt uneasy and didn''t know what to do because Nick was currently an eight years old kid. Grantly, he also missed him. And, it would be nice if you could meet your life and death partners even though they were just a child at the moment, right?


    Now, it was time for the second question. What happened to Gu Bai? Why had we never heard of him before?


    Before the apocalypse, Gu Bai was the boss of the Black Dragon gang. The Black Dragon gang was considered one of the top five mafia gangs in the southwest of Xia kingdom. However, he had been framed on the crime he didn¡¯t commit and had to flee with the remaining of his gang brothers to the capital of Xia kingdom, where he met Murong in his past life.


    Gu Bai and his group took care of Murong when he had just awakened mage ability. They accompanied Murong for a week back to the Chen Manor. After Chen Murong reunited with the members of the Chen family, Gu Bai and his group decided to ally themselves with the Chen family. At that time, in the Chen Manor, there were only Chen Jinnan, Chen Yawen, and Chen Gui, with twelve servants in the house. Since Chen Gui and a few servants were the only ones that had offensive professions, Gu Bai and his group helped them tremendously. It wouldn''t be exaggerated to say that the Chen family might not survive without their help.


    In Murong''s previous life, Gu Bai was covertly pursuing Chen Murong bit by bit. Finally, Gu Bai was unable to contain his feeling anymore, and he gathered his courage to confess to Murong that he loved him at first sight. However, at that time, he didn''t dare to approach him.


    Murong was shocked by Gu Bai''s confession. He was not sure of himself how to respond. He always thought of Gu Bai as another big brother who took care of him. However, after a prolonged period of Murong''s hesitation, Gu Bai''s patient finally ran out. Murong was forcibly kissed and even groped by Gu Bai. Gu Bai''s mouth and hands were all over Murong''s body. However, instead of pushing Gu Bai away, Murong just stood there, accepting it. Murong surprisingly found out that he didn''t hate doing that with Gu Bai. In fact, he actually liked it. He unconsciously loved him too. Then, one-side arousal turned into two-side excitement, and, finally, they slept together.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Their love for each other had been buried deep in Murong''s memory. Since then, they had been together for almost 40 years until Gu Bai sacrificed himself to save Murong. Actually, even when Gu Bai died for him, Murong still felt unsure and disbelieving. He denied the truth that happened in from of his eyes. Whenever the memory that GuBai was ripped apart by zombies resurfaced, his heart ached. The ache penetrated deeply to the bone, to the heart, and to the lungs. It was so painful that it made him forget the difficulty from escaping he suffered. So, in this life, no question asked, he would avoid those events repeating themselves.


    Thinking of this, Murong asked one of the awakened soldiers, Chen Liang, to come to find him.


    "Young master," Chen Liang said as he was approaching Murong.


    "You come," Murong said and nodded. "I have a mission for you."


    "Yes, young master," Chen Liang acknowledged.


    "Go to see my uncle Chen Fang and ask for an intelligence report on the person name "Gu Bai." He should be the boss of one of the Mafia gangs in the Anhui region. Then, you contact him for me. Tell him that we have an interesting business proposal to discuss with him and schedule face to face meeting at Xinjiang as soon as possible."


    "Yes, young master," Chen Liang confirmed. "But, which business should I tell him if he asks?"


    Murong thought for a bit and said. "Tell him...we have a rare sword to sell. Actually, I change my mind. Let''s have a look at his file first. Report to me when you obtain his profile."


    "Yes, young master," Chen Liang saluted and went out of the Chen''s Library.


    In Murong''s past life, Gu Bai was very talented at the sword. Not just because of his sword profession, but he was also extremely enthusiastic about it even before the apocalypse. This sword bait should be good enough to persuade him to come.


    Another three days had passed before Chen Liang came back with a pile of documents that related to Gu Bai. We spent about a day doing a cursory reading. From the look of it, the Black Dragon gang''s main businesses were gambling dens and smuggling.


    Murong handed the Goblin''s sword to Chen Liang and said. "You take this sword and capture a video of it, hitting on a mountain pile of steel. Then, you send the video to them as a sample. He will be interested in it for sure."


    Murong then paused and thought for a bit. "And, also tell him that we would like to have a large smuggling deal with him. If we could agree on the deal, he could consider this sword as a gift. That way, he would know that this deal is a big one."


    "Yes, young master. I will do it right away." Chen Liang said. Then, he walked out of the room to do what Murong suggested. Not waiting for long, Chen Liang came back and reported to Murong that another side was eager to meet with them. We could meet them four days later in Xinjiang.


    "Good job, Ah Liang," Murong praised. "Tell, Wuya and Juren to prepare themselves. They will have to come with me too."


    "Yes, young master." Chen Liang replied.


    "As for you, pack your bag and prepare to leave tomorrow." Murong casually said.


    "Yes...wait...young master? Our appointment is four days later, not tomorrow. Isn''t it too soon?" Cheng Liang asked with a confused look.


    "Who says you will leave a the same time as me? I will send you to somewhere else." Murong said with a smile on his face. "Your destination is the same province but different cities. I want you to go to Fuyang city and investigate something for me. The detail of the mission I will tell you tomorrow once you are there."


    "Ok, young master. I will do as you said and be ready." Chen Liang replied.


    "Good...and remember to be careful. We are dealing with the underworld outside our territory there."


    "Yes, I understand. Thank you for reminding, young master." Chen Liang replied. Then, he continuously walked away from Murong, leaving Murong to contemplate the plan alone in the night.

 Chapter 34: Begin investigation

    Before Gondola period


    Blue planet''s calendar ¨C 1st March 2024 (315 days before the apocalypse)


    Xia kingdom ¨C Xinjiang


    Near Xinjiang''s hyperloop train station


    ...


    It had been two days since Chen Liang departed in advance to the Anhui region. Now, it was time for Murong, Chen Wuya, and Chen Juren to take the hyperloop train to go to Xinjiang city in the Anhui region.


    ''Umm. Finally, tomorrow, I will be able to meet him again.'' Murong smiled as he sat on his passenger chair, resting. He recalled the wonderful memory when he was with Gu Bai. He thought of the time when they worked together, adventured together, had fun together, or even stayed in bed together. Thinking of that last moment, Murong couldn''t help turned on a little bit.


    In the past, when Murong first met Gu Bai, he didn''t pay attention to Gu Bai''s look before. Well, if you had to fight with monsters and zombies for your life, who would pay attention to one''s look at that moment, right? Especially, Gu Bai and the gang were not in their prime time either.


    It was when Murong had time to take a break and settle down with his family that he started to notice Gu Bai''s attractive look. Before the apocalypse, several influential underworld women had actually been chasing Gu Bai. Whenever he went to the party for his underworld business, the daughters or the sisters of the upper management of the other gangs always approached him. He was the big juicy meat in those women''s eyes.


    It couldn''t help since Gu Bai was not only handsome, he also had an athletic body with moderate muscle. He gained recognition for his bulked-up body when he took his shirt off, swimming. Some spies that were sent to steal secrets of Gu Bai''s gang took pictures of him, and somehow his images circulated among the women in the underworld. It was a funny way to gain popularity among underworld women.


    As a result, he had to spend time politely declining several invitations from those women. He could not exactly ignore them since he might start a war between the gangs for this stupid reason. If this really happened, it would definitely be a joke in the underworld...and a sad one for Gu Bai.


    In fact, rejections to those women were not the only problem for Gu Bai that he had to encounter. Apart from having to deal with those annoying women, to Gu Bai''s frustration, he found out that he got his nickname "Little handsome boss" from them due to his young age and fascinating appearance among other mafia bosses. As you could see, this nickname was not intimidating at all. Even Murong used to laugh and tease Gu Bai at this nickname when he was close to him.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    However, the real problem was not just how scary the nickname was. This nickname also upset some petty bosses. Several bosses referred to Gu Bai with this nickname but in a sarcastic tone. Those women really brought nothing but problems to Gu Bai.


    However, to be fair, those women were not wrong. Gu Bai indeed had a bright and playful smile that could melt your heart. However, you would have to be close to him to see that. Otherwise, he always showed his heavy expression of breath-holding and attentive look to his gang members. Well, even without those smiles, he was still cool like a bad boy type¡ªno wonder those women were pursuing him.


    ''I should consider myself lucky.'' Murong grinned, daydreaming.


    ''So, what should I do when I meet him?'' Murong thought as he recalled those happy memories. However, his smile quickly turned into seriousness. ''More importantly, how could I help him in this life?''


    In Murong''s past life, Gu Bai was accused of kidnapping the daughter of the mayor of Fuyang city, where his gang mainly resided at the time. He told Murong that he was being held in custody on that charge until his loyal brothers rescued him. Clearly, Gu Bai was the victim of a plot in which he was framed for that kidnapping action. There was no doubt about Gu Bai''s word. The remaining question that was left unanswered was "Who did it?"


    There was definitely a mastermind behind it. Someone planned it beforehand and secretly carried it out. Grantly, they were smart. They successfully got Gu Bai in jail, and Gu Bai finally had to flee out of the city. They must be someone that viewed Gu Bai as an obstacle for their organization. Probably, the remaining four major gangs in the Anhui region. They were undoubtedly the people who got the motives for carrying out this plan. They would get the most advantages from Gu Bai''s vanishing. But Murong was still missing too many clues and pieces to unearth this puzzle.


    Actually, at some points in Murong''s past life, he and Gu Bai were looking for a way to unmask the culprits after the apocalypse. It was not only for revenge, but it was also important to know who their enemies were at that time. However, everything turned out to be very complicated because the people in charge of creating all this injustice left no trace of their involvement. Moreover, the apocalypse made it very difficult to track anything.


    So, it was almost impossible to find the culprits and solve everything then. Fortunately for Murong, he had a chance to return from his rebirth to prevent his Gu Bai from being unjustly blamed for the crime that others committed. In a way, this current mission was very important to him.


    "Young master, we almost arrive at Xinjiang. Where would you like us to stay?" the sound of Chen Juren interrupted Murong''s line of thought.


    "Let''s choose one of the hotels in the city area. It doesn''t matter," Murong said.


    "What about that one, young master?" Chen Juren asked as he pointed his finger to one big modernize building near the hyperloop train station. Murong looked where Juren pointed his finger to and saw the building name "Imperium Hotel."


    "Look ok to me," Murong nodded.


    Then, Murong''s group went to that hotel and opened the rooms. After having a nice dinner with his men in the hotel''s restaurant, Murong rested in his room alone, waiting for the next important meeting day to come.

 Chapter 35: The seed of the hatred

    Xia kingdom


    Somewhere between Xinjiang city and Fuyang city


    ...


    Inside a black Bentley, there were three people in the black suits, sitting. One of them was the driver that sat in the front, driving. The other two were the people that sat in the back, discussing with each other with serious faces.


    "Weijun, you know how much I appreciate you, don''t you? You''re my right-hand man. One of the few people I have complete confidence in. But you know very well that we don''t accept a kid in our organization." Gu Bai said to another guy that was sitting next to him.


    Another guy seemed to want to say something, but Gu Bai continued to speak about the reasons to finish his point. "Our organization is a dangerous environment for your son. He can''t join. At least, not yet."


    "I know, brother Gu. I have just wanted to tell you because he said he was dying to join the gang." Ge Weijun said.


    "And he would be ''dying'' you know?" Gu Bai stressed. "You know as well as I do that most kids don''t have enough life experience to make a proper judgment. They tend to think with their muscles instead of their heads. We need people who could control their emotions and use reasons. Our gang is in the critical phase, right now."


    "I know." Ge Weijun faintly replied. He tried to concentrate on his feet, avoiding Gu Bai''s gaze.


    "And you still insist?" Gu Bai asked with an unbelievable face.


    Then, there was no response from Ge Weijun. He answered his boss with silence.


    Gu Bai sighed. "Ok. Even though I won''t let him join our gang yet, but I will let him learn about our business. Let him see how tough life on the street is, and you have to make sure he knows that it will be even tougher when we have to do business on it. Hopefully, when little Liang experiences this with his eyes, he will realize that he is not mature enough yet, and he will look forward to it when he is older."A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    It was a good compromise. Ge Weijun nodded and said. "Thank you, brother Gu. I understand your uneasiness. I really appreciate it." However, Ge Weijun still worried a bit about his son''s disappointment.


    "No problem." Gu Bai replied, noticing a little bit of the remaining of Ge Weijun''s concern.


    As Gu Bai uttered these words, he also gave one friendly pat with his hand on Ge Weijun''s shoulder, followed by encouraging conversation.


    "Come on, we have a business in Xinjiang. Ge Liang is a smart kind. He will understand our intentions. Let''s focus on our business for now."


    -------------------------------------------------------------


    Xia kingdom


    Anhui region, Fuyang city


    ...


    Contrary to Gu Bai''s belief, when 17-year-old Ge Liang received the text from his father about Gu Bai''s response, he was furious. His father was the second in command of the gang, and he could not even get him inside his gang.


    ''What a useless old man,'' Ge Liang thought. ''It must be that young boss, Gu Bai. He is afraid I will learn quickly and prove that I am better than him.''


    Ge Liang was considered the same generation as Gu Bai. He was only seven years younger than Gu Bai. In Ge Liang''s opinion, Gu Bai was the boss because he had just luckily inherited the position from the death of the previous boss, Gu Bai''s father. Gu Bai had studied in Laputa kingdom for all these years, and he had just come back two years ago with some friends. In terms of Fuyang city, he definitely knew more than him!


    So, Ge Liang envied and hated Gu Bai for not allowing him to join the gang.


    However, he could do nothing. Gu Bai and his father were also not in Fuyang city. If he would like to appeal, he had to wait for them to come back from Xinjiang city first. Thinking of that, he kicked the chair in the house and continued to watch TV to light up his mood. He had a date tonight, and he wouldn''t let Gu Bai''s stupid decision ruin the mood with his girl tonight.


    So, that night, young Ge Liang sneaked out of the house, bypassing his father''s orders for him to stay home, taking care of his mother.


    ...


    Somewhere in Fuyang, that same night.


    "Chief, I''m calling to inform you that our target was out for his date again today with that little girl." A tall young man with sunglasses spoke through his mobile phone.


    "All right, stick to the plan. Remember, no one can see all of you. Capture him when you have the chance." The mysterious boss on another side said.


    "I could get the girl this time too, boss. It should be easy. They are practically fish in the net." The young man tried to persuade the boss on another side of the line.


    "No, I told you to stick to the plan. With the boy working for us, it will be much safer to catch the girl and fabricate the evidence. We can''t make any mistakes." The boss stressed his desire.


    "All right, boss." The young man confirmed. After that, the young man turned his face to his colleagues and told them what the boss wanted. These guys had a direct order from their boss, and they had no intention of failing tonight.

 Chapter 36: Secret love couple

    So, who was Ge Liang''s secret girlfriend? Why they had to meet in secret? It tuned out that this young boy had a high taste. The girl who he always sneaked out to see was Anna Wang, the only daughter of the mayor of Fuyang city. It was well-known among the residence of Fuyang city how much the mayor doted this little girl. The mayor had a wonderful future plan for her. He even set up several blind dates for her with a couple of fine young men from the outstanding families in the city. Poor mayor - he didn''t know that a lowly kid from some gangster families had already stolen his daughter''s heart.


    The couple had already been dating for a few months now. And tonight, like every other night for the past month, the couple planned to covertly "meet and greet" each other in the desolate park near the mayor''s house. Even though the mayor''s house was full of guards, Anna was somehow always able to circumvent the security to see Ge Liang.


    "Ge Liang, I wish we didn''t have to hide to see each other. Why can''t we just have a normal relationship?" a naive young girl with dark blond hair asked with a cute voice as she was cuddling on a boy''s athletic chest.


    "Soon, honey... soon." the boy answered as he gently kissed the girl''s head. "When I have enough money and power. I will introduce myself to your father properly and ask for his approval. So, we can date openly."


    "You have been saying that for months!" the girl protested, pouting. However, before the girl was able to say something else, the boy shut her down with a sloppily kiss on the girl''s neck, making the girl giggled.


    "Stop it. My neck is already full of your saliva tonight," the girl said with an irritated voice, but her face was actually full of satisfaction. The boy seemed to sense it too, so his hands already moved to the next step.


    However, the girl had firm determination today. "You don''t have my permission to go further tonight. Actually, not just tonight. It will be every night until you are serious about this." The girl said and pushed the boy away from her a little.


    "I am serious!" the boy protested. "I did try to get an opportunity to join my father''s gang to prove myself. But, that arrogant boss didn''t allow me to!"


    "You have to try harder," the girl said with a calm face and then posed her beautiful body in front of the boy with a seductive smile. "If you would like to touch this body again."


    "Common, babe," the boy begged, trying to move closer. "Don''t make your boyfriend suffer for no reason."


    But, the girl still moved farther and pushed the boy away. "You know I am suffering too, right? But, I hope this will be enough incentive for you to try harder. I will go home now. Text me when you have anything concrete. Otherwise, play with yourself!" The girl stood up suddenly and prepared to leave.


    The boy hurried to stand up and reach out the catch the girl''s hand. "Okay. Okay. But at least let me have another good night kiss from you tonight?"


    "Fine," the girl said and kissed the boy. However, the girl ended the kiss quickly because the boy''s kiss was too good, and she didn''t want to end the night with something else.


    "You are crafty. You tried to lure me with your kiss, don''t you?" The girl said and gently slapped the boy''s face. "I get to go now."


    The boy sighed with a disappointed face. "Okay, babe. Take care."


    Then, the boy released the girl''s hand. The girl turned around and walked back to her house. As the shadow of the girl disappeared from the scene, the boy quietly mumbled. "I also look forward to that day, my love. I also don''t want to hide anymore..."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    After the girl had completely gone, young Ge Liang also started his way back home.


    ''It is a good night,'' he thought. He walked to another side of the park, looking at the dark sky with several brilliant stars.


    Suddenly, as he went beyond the park''s area, next to the main road, he was approached by a mysterious black car with the lights off. Two men quickly get out of the car, and before he could even utter a sound, he was silenced by a loud blow to the head. That was the last thing he remembered.


    Thirty minutes later, Ge Liang woke up in a small interrogation room in an old desert factory. His body was soaked in ice water, probably by these mysterious men. His hands were also shackled to the chair.


    ''This is not good.'' Ge Liang thought. He discovered that he did not like what he saw or the situation he was in.


    "What is happening? What do you want?" Ge Liang shouted to the three other men in the room.


    One of the mysterious men laughed. "All right, kid. Before answering any questions, we will make it clear to you right now. Your life is meaningless to us. If you don''t cooperate with us, we will not hesitate to end it for you. So, you should know how to act from now on."


    "You guys think I will be afraid of you." Ge Liang interrupted. "Do you know who my father is? Release me at once, or you will regret that you have ever been born." Even though Ge Liang was still young and hot head, he was still the son of a high member of the mafia gang. He would not be easily frightening.


    "Hahaha," all three guys laughed together. "You are in your fantasy land, kid. Do you think we don''t know who your father is? In fact, it is because of your father that is why we captured you."


    "Bastard," the boy swore.


    "Parp!" one of the mysterious guys hit the boy''s face.


    "You should be careful with your word, kid." The same mysterious guy said with a smile on his face. "Perhaps, you need a little more inspiration."


    That mysterious man quickly hit the boy back and forth. After receiving several heavy blows to his face and watching his own blood fall from his nose to his knees, the boy looked at these mysterious men with vengeance eyes.


    "Go to hell!" the boy shouted, spitting the blood to one of the guys.


    "Seems your eyes were not clear yet. Let''s remove one of them, and perhaps you will see the situation clearer."


    The mysterious man drew the knife out and pointed it at one of the boy''s eyes. When the knife moved closer, the boy, now for the first time, felt the real panic and shouted.


    "No! No! Stop! I will do anything! Stop!" the boy started to cry now. His eyes also had tears for the first time.


    "You are so weak, boy. You break too quickly." The mysterious man laughed.


    It seems Ge Liang didn''t have the courage to retort anymore. He quietly said.


    "Yes, yes, I will cooperate, but please don''t do anything more to me. I''m only 17 years old."


    "Well, that''s the way I like it. If you do what we say, don''t worry. We won''t mistreat you." The mysterious guy said. "Very well, what you have to do is simple. You''re going to summon that mayor''s daughter to meet again tomorrow. But, this time, use this letter."


    The mysterious man waved the letter in front of the boy.


    "But, her father''s guards may find out about our appointment if I do that."


    "Don''t worry about that. We will manage."


    "I understand... Can I ask a question?"


    "Sure, kid... What do you want to know?"


    "Why are you doing this?"


    The bully smiled and answered immediately. "Simple. We want to take down Gu Bai. That man is an obstacle for our organization. He was slowly expanding his influence. Not just in Fuyang but all over Anhui. We will not allow him to do that anymore."


    Ge Liang''s tears suddenly stopped flowing. ''Wait. This could be an opportunity I was looking for,'' Ge Liang thought. He then adopted a more serious expression and said.


    "If this is all about taking down Gu Bai, count me in. I wanted to join his gang, and I was rejected because he was afraid that I would be better than him. My father didn''t dare to face him, and he also turned his back on me. Right now, they are in Xinjiang and don''t care anything about me."


    Young Ge Liang had some courage, but he was stupid. Only a stupid man would think that an enemy would want to take down only the leader of another gang and not the entire rival gang.


    The mysterious men were surprised to hear about the conflict within Gu Bai''s gang. But, all in all, it was a good thing for them. He also didn''t want to clarify the boy''s misunderstanding about their plan.


    "Good. Good." The man smiled. "All right, we''re counting on you then... you''ve got your orders."


    "Ok," the boy replied. "You could remove this shackle then. I promise I won''t run."


    "Okay," the man replied and untied the boy.


    After Ge Liang was untied, he adjusted his position a little bit and asked. "so, tell me the full plan then."

 Chapter 37: First meeting

    Xia kingdom


    Anhui region, Xinjiang city


    ...


    "Young master, I got the information you asked for," Chen Juren informed Murong.


    "So, tell me then."


    "As you know, Gu Bai is coming here to Xinjiang to meet us. But, as you said, he also intended to meet with another group of 3 men, whom he planned to recruit for his gang. However, from what I can gather, these guys don''t have the best intentions."


    "Do we know them?" Murong quickly asked.


    "They were just low-life criminals in Xinjiang city. Gu Bai wants to expand his gang''s area of influence."


    "I see. Then, you can inform the mayor of Xinjiang city to throw them in jail."


    "I will do that ASAP, young master."


    "Thank you." Murong acknowledged Chen Juren''s good job. "Now, let''s go out to our meeting place with Gu Bai in two hours then."


    "Yes, young master."


    ...


    Later that day, in one of the fanciest restaurants in Xinjiang, Murong, Chen Juren, and Chen Wuya were waiting for Gu Bai''s party in the VIP room. At around noon, the door of the VIP room was opened. Murong immediately looked at the door as his heart rate was strikingly increasing.


    "Sorry, our esteem guests. Would you like to order some more food?" the sound from the person who came in made Murong disappointed.


    ''Damn. It was just a server,'' Murong thought.


    However, before Murong started to move his eyes back to the menu on the table, two other people attempted to enter the room.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Excuse me, miss? We are here for this room." The two men spoke to the server girl in front of them.


    "Sorry, sir." The server girl moved away in order for those two guys to come in.


    Those two guys were, as you guessed, Gu Bai and Ge Weijun. As Gu Bai entered the room, Murong was able to take a good look at his past life partner for the first time in this life. He couldn''t help but felt what he had once felt before.


    ''And there he was, in front of me... it was Gu Bai, the man I love, and the man I came to save. I knew I should hide it, but I had a hard time containing the urge to run out and hug him.''


    As for Gu Bai, when he saw Murong, he also felt attracted to Murong, like in Murong''s previous life. This was probably a curious case of love at first sight, which took place twice at different times. But, of course, no way Gu Bai would know that this was actually not his first time that he was in love with Murong.


    Anyway, Gu Bai didn''t act anything unusual as he saw Murong. He was the mob boss and, in this business, the homosexual boss would lessen his fame. So, he didn''t advertise his sexual orientation to his gang yet, at least not until he had a firm power in the region. However, he couldn''t help thinking about Murong on his mind.


    ''What a cute young man... I can''t help but be attracted to him, even though I''m only here on business,'' thought Gu Bai. Then, as professional as he was, Gu Bai quickly introduced his party.


    "Good afternoon, this is Ge Weijun, a member of my organization, and I''m Gu Bai, although you should all know that by now, right?" Gu Bai presented himself and Ge Weijun.


    "Of course, we do." Chen Juren said with a smile. "My name is Chen Juren. This is my young master, Chen Murong. And this is my colleague, Chen Wuya. Nice to meet you."


    "Nice to meet you too." Gu Bai said and shook hands with Chen Juren and Chen Wuya. Then, he turned his direction to Murong and said.


    "It is an honor to finally meet you, young master Murong."


    Then, Gu Bai had a firm and long shook hand with Murong, which Murong would also like to reciprocate.


    "Me too. Brother Gu Bai. Can I call you brother Gu Bai? I hope we could get along."


    "Definitely." Gu Bai smiled. "We are sorry that we are a little bit late."


    "That''s alright. It is, in fact, not late at all." Murong said. "We also have just arrived and didn''t have time to order anything yet."


    Then, they all sat down at the dining table and ordered the food. As they were ordering the food, Murong glanced at Ge Weijun. He thought there should be a traitor among Gu Bai''s rank, and this man was his main suspect. If Gu Bai went down, he would become the leader of the gang. He also mysteriously disappeared after Gu Bai broke out of jail. However, he had no proof. Fortunately, this was being investigated by Chen Liang at the moment.


    So, after finishing lunch together, and chatted about the purposed of this meeting a little bit. Murong then ordered the server to clean the table, leave the room, and lock the door on the way out. He began to discuss the main business with Gu Bai.


    "Ok. Let''s get down to our business, shall we?"

 Chapter 38: Uncover the plot

    Xia kingdom


    Anhui region, Fuyang city


    The night before Murong met Gu Bai


    ...


    After Chen Liang arrived in Fuyang city a few days ago, he made great strides in his mission. It wasn''t that hard to find Ge Weijun''s house and the information about several gangs around here. However, he had not yet completed his mission. He did not see anything unusual. Ge Weijun was not even in the house at this time since he also came with Gu Bai to see young master Murong in Xinjiang city. So far, Chen Liang only observed Ge Weijun''s house to find an opportunity to sneak in and investigated.


    It was the night before the appointment between Gu Bai and Murong that Chen Liang saw an unfamiliar black car parked two blocks away from the Ge Weijun''s house. Chen Liang took cover and saw a young man got out of the car. To his surprise, it was young Ge Liang. The boy must leave from the window earlier. That was why he could not see the boy leaving before.


    What even surprised him more was that the boy seemed to have a lot of bruises around the face. However, instead of having negative emotions from the injuries, the boy seemed to be in a happy mood, as it was reflected on the boy''s smiley face. It was really a strange situation.


    Chen Liang attempted to approach the boy, but he chose to stop. He found that two other men were escorting the boy until the boy entered his house. Chen Liang then decided to leave and report the situation to Murong. After Murong was informed about what was going on, he instructed Chen Liang to keep spying on the boy and try to find out about the boy''s next move without revealing himself. Chen Liang then followed Murong''s order.


    The next morning, Chen Liang followed Ge Liang and saw the boy talking to one of the guards in front of the mayor''s house. The boy handed in a letter to one of the guards and left. After that, there was nothing strange happening.


    Until the night after, Chen Liang found that the boy sneaked out of the house again. He seemed to be waiting for someone in the park near the city mayor''s house. Unexpectedly, a young girl joined him in the park. They talked with each other for a while. However, since Chen Liang was quite far, he could not hear the conversation.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The girl seemed to question the boy because of his injuries and touched the boy''s face with concern. However, during their peaceful interactions, suddenly, three mysterious men came in and captured the girl.


    The girl tried to shout, but her mouse was covered by a mysterious guy''s hand. The boy, contrary to Chen Liang''s expectation, seemed to be calm.


    The situation was tense and confusing. Chen Liang didn''t quite understand what the hell was going on. So many things were happening so fast.


    It all got worse when, in the distance, he saw the same black car that had dropped Ge Liang off at his home two nights before approaching. The mysterious guys took the girl and the boy in that black car. Chen Liang wanted to act to help the girl, but he couldn''t. He was afraid that he could compromise the mission. He immediately contacted Murong and filled him in on the situation.


    Ge Weijun''s son and criminal thugs, which were unknown to him, kidnapped the girl.


    It was a short and precise report. To Chen Liang''s surprise, his young master didn''t ask for the details. Young master Murong only instructed him to check whether that young girl was the mayor''s daughter. He also told him to continue the investigation and kept taking videos. Chen Liang confirmed Murong later that the girl was indeed the mayor''s daughter.


    On Murong''s side, after Chen Liang informed him about what happened, Murong was actually not entirely calm as the situation was still delicate. However, everything was clear before his eyes. The leader of this unknown kidnapping group, through Ge Liang, had managed to kidnap the Mayor''s daughter. And now, they would plan to frame Gu Bai, most likely by tricking the girl, and Ge Liang himself to testify against Gu Bai. Moreover, this mysterious group probably left the girl and the boy in one of Gu Bai''s properties, which the young boy would surely know how to get to. They might also plant fake evidence on the girl''s house to frame Gu Bai. It was indeed a perfect plan. It has both alibi and hard evidence. Even the best lawyer in town would find it impossible to help Gu Bai from this trap. However, this time, it definitely would not work since he was around.


    Despite the fact that Murong had guessed what really was going on, he still had not told Gu Bai yet.


    ''This is not the right time.'' Murong thought.


    Two days ago, when Murong met with Gu Bai. The business talk was going well. Gu Bai agreed to collect a large number of weapons for Murong. He was also satisfied with the sword that Murong gave him as a gift. Their relationship could be described as a respectable beginning friendship between two parties. However, they surely had not reached the level of completely trusting each other yet. If Murong told Gu Bai about the events that had not happened yet, it might have a reverse effect. So, Murong decided to let the enemy''s plan proceed as it was in the past. Then, he prepared to meet Gu Bai tomorrow to discuss the details of the deal and go to Gu Bai''s warehouse together as they previously arranged.

 Chapter 39: Who kidnap my daughter!

    Xia kingdom


    Anhui region, Xinjiang city


    The morning after Anna Wang was kidnapped


    ...


    Gu Bai came to meet Murong the next day as they planned. As Murong group was checking out of the hotel, they found that Gu Bai''s party had already waited for them in the hotel''s lobby.


    "Good morning, young master Murong."


    "Good morning, brother Gu." Murong smiled. "How are your other businesses? Are they finished as planned?"


    "Not exactly. But, everything is ok." Gu Bai replied with a little bit of an annoying face. He found out that the people he came to recruit were in jail at the moment. What an unlucky trip. Good thing that at least his business deal with Murong seemed to be successful.


    "Good to hear that. So, when could we leave for your base?" Murong smiled.


    "Anytime now. I have rented a limousine for us to use." Gu Bai responded and signaled the driver to help Murong with the luggage. "I will follow you to the car."


    "Ah. Ok." Murong replied and followed the driver to the car with Gu Bai accompanying him.


    ...


    Meanwhile, at Mayor''s manor in Fuyang city, all servants and guards were busy trying to find their mistress. It seemed that no one had seen her since this morning. Somehow, their mistress had mysteriously disappeared.


    "What do you mean you could not find my daughter?" The mayor angrily shouted while he was throwing a pen at his chief of guards. "Where could she be? When was the last time anyone saw her?"


    "Her closest retainer said that she saw young mistress went to bed last night," one of the butlers reported with a quiet noise.


    "Then, how could she disappear?" the mayor continued to shout furiously. His beloved daughter disappeared without anyone knowing where she was. How could he not be angry?


    "Master! Chief! We found a letter in young mistress''s bedroom," one of the servants ran back to report, desperately gasping enough air for his lung. The mayor turned his face to that servant and snatched the letter from the hand of that servant. He hurriedly read the letter.


    ''Anna. I now had something you always want. Meet me at the same place at the same time tomorrow.


    G. of the Black Dragon gang.''


    "Who is G?" the mayor asked.


    "We don''t know, sir." The servant who delivered the letter replied. "One of the guards said that this was probably the letter that was sent to young mistress two days ago. It was delivered by a teenage boy. But, they didn''t pay attention to him."


    "What? Do we know his name?"


    "No, sir..."


    "Go investigate!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    "It is probably Gu Bai. He is the boss of the Black Dragon gang right now." One of the mayor''s advisors said.


    "Ummm. It does make sense. Even if it is not him, the culprit is still in his gang. He must take responsibility." The mayor agreed with one of his advisors. "Contact them. If they don''t hand her back, bring the polices and our soldiers to capture all of them! I don''t care how you do it! You must find my daughter!" the mayor commanded his captain.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ...


    Meanwhile, outside of Xinjiang city in the Anhui region, Murong''s party and Gu Bai''s party were traveling to Gu Bai''s base city (Fuyang city) to see Gu Bai''s warehouse.


    "I can''t wait for us to reach our base and show you our capacity. I have many plans for our partnership," happily said Gu Bai, not knowing what he would hear minutes later over the phone.


    "I have no doubt about that, brother Gu," Murong answered with a smile. He didn''t think he would see Gu Bai in this salesman aspect.


    Suddenly, there was a call to Gu Bai''s phone, and Gu Bai accidentally put it on speaker.


    "Boss, where are you now? Our base has been surrounded by the mayor''s policemen and soldiers. They asked us to give them back the mayor''s daughter."


    "What mayor''s daughter?" Gu Bai asked back in confusion.


    "We don''t know, boss. They kept saying that their mistress was invited by one of our guys and have never been back."


    "What bullshit is that? Have you gone investigate and ask our members?" Gu Bai furiously said.


    "I have already done that, but no one said the word about it. What should I tell them?" the same gang member asked Gu Bai.


    "Tell them..."


    "Bang! Bang! ..." Gu Bai didn''t have enough time to finish the sentence. The gun sound clearly came through the phone, and the line was cut.


    "..."


    Silence reigned in the car for a while, and then Gu Bai quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Murong''s head, while Ge Weijun also pointed it at Chen Wuya.


    "All right, what the hell is going on?" asked Gu Bai, taking the safety off his gun.


    Murong quickly understood. It was normal for Gu Bai to be suspicious of him. Gu Bai left his base in Fuyang to Xinjiang in order to meet him and recruited some people for his gang. Right now, not only those people who were supposed to join his gang had been captured but his base was also surrounded by Mayor''s force. More importantly, this batter incident happened when he was not at the base. It seemed to be too much of a coincidence that everything happened when this supposed "new partner" contacted him.


    Murong was surprised. However, Murong had a lot of fighting experience in his past life. It had already been a natural reflection for him to draw a gun once he saw Gu Bai drew his gun. It was even before his brain began to think of the reason why Gu Bai did that. Chen Wuya also pointed the gun back at Ge Weijun while Chen Juren pointed the gun at the driver in the front seat of the limousin.


    "If we knew anything about this, why would we bother to stay with your guys here?" Murong asked, pretending not to know about the situation. Murong was smart, and he knew it was not the time to reveal the whole truth to Gu Bai. So, he only convinced Gu Bai that it was not them who caused all these events.


    After hearing Murong''s direct question, Gu Bai seemed to calm down a little, but he still pointed the gun at Murong.


    "Chen Wuya, throw your gun down," said Murong, as he was throwing his gun on the floor of the limousin.


    "Young master?" seeing Murong throwing his gun away, Chen Wuya also obeyed and threw his gun away even though he didn''t agree with his young master.


    "I admitted that I sent some of my subordinates to investigate yours, but it would be weird if I didn''t investigate the next partner," Murong added.


    Seeing Murong''s logic, Gu Bai admitted it had a very low probability to be the responsibility of Murong''s party.


    "Lower the gun." Gu Bai said, lowering his gun.


    "Boss?" Ge Weijun asked.


    "Young master Murong''s speech made so much sense. If it was them, they wouldn''t come with us." Gu Bai plainly explained.


    "Boss, you should hear this out." The driver turned up the radio sound for other people in the limousine to hear.


    *The city of Fuyang woke up today with alarming news. The daughter of our city''s mayor, Anna Wang, has been kidnapped. Upon investigation, the alibi and evidence were pointed to the Black Dragon gang. However, the gang didn''t admit it. So, the mayor ordered Fuyang''s police force to put the member of this gang into custody just this morning. Right now, the authority thought the culprit of the kidnapping is a subject named Gu Bai, whose current location is unknown. All authorities are on the lookout for him. Let us hope that this criminal will soon be captured.*


    "Damn it, damn it! It can''t be!" said Gu Bai, looking at the floor of the car, staring blankly, thinking.


    "Damn it, Gu Bai, we must move, now!" cried Ge Weijun.


    Gu Bai did not answer right away. He had a long breath. "Calm down, Ge Weijun, we must think calmly, or we''ll end up dead. We have no idea what happened yet."


    Gu Bai''s word had restored Ge Weijun''s composure. However, even Gu Bai acted more composed than Ge Weijun. You could still see that he was nervous.


    "Brother Gu, maybe my subordinate knew something. He would not be captured because he was not your man. Let me contact him and let you know?" Murong proposed something since Gu Bai had not spoken anything for a while.


    Gu Bai looked at Murong attentively and nodded. "Thank you, young master Murong. I will definitely return your kindness after this situation."