Chapter 440: Only My Method Chapter 440: Family Knights (1)

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

On a bright, sunny day, the "Mining Development Team" that would later become renowned announced its establishment. The initial members were only three people: Liu Xinyu, Yun Ershi, and Lie Feng; Yin Senchen joined later. Don't be fooled by his taciturn nature — compared to being a porter, life in the exploration team was naturally far more relaxed.

Yin Senjin fell a step behind and failed to snag a position, leaving him to serve miserably as a hundred-ton elevator — the mine had only one mobile crusher, its tracks frequently stalled, and whenever that happened, Yin Senjin had to put in about two hours of work, lifting entire truckloads of ore up to the crusher's upper hopper to dump them.

Before the gentlemen inside the Diamond Office Hall could figure out the situation, Liu Xinyu had people shoulder whole crates of konjac and vanish into the boundless forest. Compared to the story of the "Human Development Research Society" struggling in China, Liu Xinyu didn't feel the dangers of the West Continent could escalate to any significant degree; on the other hand, Yin Senchen possessed two faiths, making him a fairly formidable Divine Art Knight — escorting three people was a simple matter.

Even Jin Douna breathed a sigh of relief, though a sliver of worry lingered deep in her heart. She had already grown fond of life on the West Continent.

On the final day before departure, Yu Weichao mobilized 100,000 slaves to help load and unload ore onto the various vehicles. From Shenqi Mountain to the location of the Water Land God Boxes, along the short 10-kilometer stretch, vehicles streamed ceaselessly, forming a rolling shuttle of steel.

The West River Water Fortress at this time was still not a bustling metropolis, but it was a city brimming with vitality — humanity's greatest ideal lies precisely in vitality; whether communism or a utopia rising from a hundred wastes, during its construction phase it is always this full of vitality, filling its people with anticipation.

Likewise, a city that has lost development is the nurturer of a numb environment; no organism can easily resist stagnation — just as mountain folk in pristine landscapes yearn for industrialization, while citizens in steel jungles yearn for suburbanization. The once frontline Temple city, Ma La, has now turned into a half-dead stone city, forming a stark contrast with the West River Water Fortress's teeming vitality.

Grand Knight Silva, accompanied by his servants, stood amid the dust kicked up by the automobiles, breathing greedily.

His attendant was choking badly and couldn't help coughing, whereupon Lord Silva said in an admonishing tone: "Don't cough, swallow it down — this is the power of the gods. The source of power!"

The attendant's face turned green from holding it in, yet he truly dared not cough anymore.

Having returned to the Elder Council, Grand Knight Silva was still a Grand Knight; his commands brooked no question.

Another 30-ton heavy truck roared past, the jolting road conditions sending ore powder scattering on the wind.

Grand Knight Silva held his hand out in the air, trying to catch as much dust as possible, his face showing an expression of envy and bliss.

After a long while, he finally exhaled and said: "The Jiangning people are truly rich! I must let the nobles in the city see how formidable the Jiangning people are. Go take a look up ahead."

"Yes." The attendant immediately sprinted forward, only hoping to get farther away from that dust.

Yun Village.

Two kilometers forward from here lies the vast, expansive West River. The engineering team used over 3,000 machine-hours to fell and clear the trees, building a 5-square-kilometer loading/unloading field. 1,500 meters of Water Land God Boxes were placed in sections across different zones of the field, filled with supplies by mechanical and manual means.

Each Water Land God Box section stood 10 meters high, 30 meters wide, and 50 meters long; to transport as many supplies as possible, the slaves had to stack them meticulously. Without gantry cranes and containers, the workload equaled manually erecting a skyscraper, or a small pyramid.

Ma La symbolically dispatched 10 Combat-grade Knights to help; they could drag 30-meter-long large trees, or cooperate to lift a container — containers typically held neat items like rubber, paper, or metal ingots.

Grand Knight Silva grew even happier upon arriving on site: "The slaves are actually this capable — the Jiangning people have skill. If our slaves were this diligent and hardworking, the Light Infantry Battalion wouldn't have collapsed at the first touch."

"The Grand Knight speaks truly. Judging by the Jiangning people's appearance, they themselves seem to have ranks — yellow-skinned ones are higher grade, dark-skinned ones lower grade; they're probably some kind of hierarchy." Servants value rank systems above all, so they know them in great detail.

"Not just 'some level'." Silva remarked with feeling: "We must strive to give dark-skinned people status in Ma La; later, when we seize other Temple Territories, we can create another low-grade race. By the way, where are the Temple Knights the Council Chairman sent to help?"

His attendant searched for half a day, then suddenly pointed at the rubber zone on the right side and asked: "That one moving the big crates — looks like Knight Kazan..."

Knight Kazan is a Combat Level 8 Temple Knight... yet he's hauling crates.

Grand Knight Silva himself is merely a Level 8 Temple Knight; he pretended not to hear his attendant's words, turning his head to the left, where ore was being unloaded — only to see a dust-covered knight spread his arms and forcefully push a 30-plus-meter-wide iron plate, shoving all the ore behind it into the Water Land God Box...

What strength!

Looking closely, it was precisely Divine Art Knight Yin Senjin.

Grand Knight Silva's worldview instantly collapsed!

"I must go see Lord Chen Yi." Silva raised his whip and lashed the Mount Beast's rump.

The beast, pained, reared its hooves and bolted, charging straight at the crowd below the mountain; if it could speak, it would surely shout: "Out of my way, my dad's the Mayor!"

The Mount Beast couldn't speak, and the commoners below had no intention of scattering.

As it happened, three clerks under the protection of two Level 2 Soldiers were advancing toward Ma La, measuring as they walked with iron rulers. The hoofbeats startled them; the soldiers unhesitatingly raised their double-barreled shotguns and swapped in solid slugs of tremendous power.

"My lords, my lords." Grand Knight Silva's attendant waved his hands from far off, separately intercepting in front of his master, calling: "I am an attendant under Grand Knight Silva of Ma La..."

"Greetings, Grand Knight." The six men rendered a military salute.

The Grand Knight was right before them; if they were Ma La residents, they would have prostrated themselves long ago.

Silva calmed somewhat, reining his mount to a stop a short distance away.

His attendant, brought from the family, was quick-witted; he hailed the West River Water Fortress clerks and said with a smile: "Could you pass word that Grand Knight Silva of Ma La-State has arrived?"

This is the rule of the Ma La-State — all government members are one body.

But in the West River Water Fortress, continuing China's tradition, a gentleman without an introduction letter must find the right department; the leading clerk hailed from Ma La, and though not as "noble-blind" as the villagers, he also didn't want to take on trouble, replying: "We're here to survey the route; if you want it reported, go ask someone in a suit."

"Route? What route?"

"Seems they're building some kind of road."

The Xima Highway and Ring City Highway had altered Ma La's ecological structure; hearing this, Silva could no longer contain himself. He rode his Mount Beast over and asked: "They're building another 'highway'? Where does it lead?"

"Highway" is a transliteration; Ma La-State residents all know it.

Touched on a concrete matter, the clerk hesitated a moment: "It's not a highway; heard it's called a 'railway'; as for specifics, we don't know."

"Railway? Could it be a road made of iron?" Silva burst into loud laughter. While imprisoned in the West River Water Fortress, he had studied Chinese in his spare time, achieving a decent level.

The knights of the West Continent aren't as perversely intelligent as Mages, but they are above average.

The clerk forced a couple of laughs but didn't answer, instead smiling: "Our schedule is tight; if you have other questions, you can go ask a Chinese person."

"Chinese person?"

"Oh, that means Jiangning people. They now call themselves Chinese people."

As more trainees were dispatched to the West Continent, the "Jiangning people" label became too small; at the last Rhombus Conference Hall meeting, they unanimously decided to rename it "Chinese people," and the clerks who had submitted to the Water Fortress naturally complied.

After a brief delay, Silva no longer mentioned seeking "Lord Chen Yi." He could represent neither Ma La nor the Temple; how they used Divine Art Knights and Temple Knights was their own business...

Temple Knight Kazan's last chance to escape the porter ranks was thus lost.

That very night, the two Divine Art Knights returning from the Yin Sen Family brought back 120 Combat-grade Knights — nearly one-fifth of the family's original strength. Yu Weichao straightforwardly established a new institution, the "Combat Knight Management Office," to manage and deploy these Combat Knights, including the Temple Knights sent by the Temple to express "respect," who also fell under its purview. They would be uniformly assigned work, uniformly hauling crates; Kazan and the others would no longer face a situation with no crates to haul.

120 High-grade Combat Knights are no small number — roughly equivalent to the number of combat-capable nobles in Ma La, or the number of Combat-grade Noble Officers in the Temple, enough to form two 100,000-strong Legions.

The appearance of so many people within Ma La's vicinity prompted inquiries not only from Ma La's nobles, but from the surrounding city-states as well.

The Council Chairman had no choice but to visit Yu Weichao again, receiving the answer: "the Lord's retainers."

The 120 High-grade Combat Knights were indeed Chen Yi's retainers.

Half of them bore the surname Yin Sen, and the other half were descendants of long-time comrades-in-arms of the Yin Sen Family, belonging to the Yin Sen Family's Family Knights.

Yin Senyong and Yin Sen Guan both sought to free themselves and to help the family; unexpectedly, upon seeing Yin Senlie's Four Divine Arts, the Clan Chief was uncontrollably excited, preferring to shrink his strength rather than not send the man over.

Actually, what strength needed shrinking? Merely one Four-grade Divine Art Knight like Yin Senlie was enough for strategic-level defense.

Chen Yi naturally could not take them all; he selected 30 people, had them swear oaths in advance according to the contract, and only then brought them into the Subway.

Seeing him take the knights back to Earth without even asking, Yin Senyong was indescribably grateful, kneeling before Chen Yi again and saying: "We Family Knights are first Chen Family's Family Knights, and second members of the Yin Sen Family."

All the knights said the same.

Chen Yi laughed heartily and helped them up, saying: "Good, good, good. From now on, don't kneel when there's nothing wrong. Is Yin Senlie all right? Isn't the Yin Sen Clan Chief worried he'll mess around?"

"There are many knights with problems in their heads; the Clan Chief can handle it."

"Then your Clan Chief is quite an Organizational Talent. However, giving me 120 Family Knights, his defensive strength is still a bit weak." Chen Yi shook his head with great Big Brother Style, saying: "Alright, you select a few people. When we go back, we'll think of a way and as soon as possible get a few Divine Art Knights to send to Clan Chief Sir."

"My Lord!" A group of knights immediately knelt down again, excited.

"What courtesy, small matter, small matter. Yin Senyong, when you go back, start thinking about it. I estimate that in two months we can organize a French Rite, or whether Buddhism will work..."

Yin Senyong said softly: "Continuous rituals seem to easily waste Faith Power. The Buddhist Disciples just held a grand Celebration Ceremony; I think waiting another two to three years would be better..."

For the knights, waiting three to five years was nothing at all, and they all nodded in agreement.

Chen Yi could not wait two to three years; turning his mind, he said: "Then Tibetan Buddhism it is..."

... (Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)