Chapter 486

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Groups of students gathered on Xijiang Square, each carrying their own weapons; some wore camouflage training gear, some simply went shirtless, and others wore work clothes, clearly having just come from factories or mines.

Most of their expressions resembled those of the West Continent's natives — all tinged with confusion, hesitation, and guilt. Reserve call-up training had been conducted several times before, but never a full mobilization, and this was the first time it was explicitly stated "this is not a drill."

A native shopkeeper who ran a tea stall on Back Street was stupidly cheerful, shouting energetically at the entrance: "Brothers, come have a bowl of tea, top-grade authentic Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao for just 1 iron coin, come have a bowl of tea..."

Beautiful Bi Luo Chun tea leaves floated in glass bottles, looking like they were over-steeped; even idle Martial Arts Hall students wouldn't linger here, but some passing idle natives sat facing the street entrance, watching "Jiangning people" come and go in a hurry, like watching a play.

A row of armored trucks abruptly appeared on Back Street, deep green canvas covering the gaps between steel plates, yet revealing holes from encountering arrows.

Fifth-Rank Clerk Shi Qi, originally sitting with legs crossed, munching on locally made biscuits and gulping tea from the teapot spout, dropped his leg at the sight of the armored trucks, nearly jumping to his feet.

"Master Shi, tell us? What's the situation?" The tea stall owner was an ordinary native, but spoke fluently and had decent insight, which allowed him to stay in business; compared to his physically strong but mentally mediocre clansmen, he was quite an anomaly.

Shi Qi looked around, his vanity swelling from his compatriots' gazes, and said modestly: "What could I know. This is the Jiangning people's conscription call — all Jiangning people must gather, probably going to war. Our government office is closed, two days off in a row."

West Continent people don't fear war; the tea stall didn't even stir, just people whispering to each other.

The tea stall owner laughed "hehe," refilled Shi Qi's tea, and said while pouring: "Master Shi, your knowledge is broad, what's the deal with that impressive vehicle just now?"

He had noticed Shi Qi's expression change; a tea stall needs people to talk, like a newspaper — the more people talking, the more customers come for tea, and the longer they stay drinking.

Shi Qi once again became the center of attention, and couldn't help but say: "That impressive vehicle is called an armored truck, a powerful Jiangning weapon, even javelins can't pierce it."

"Armored truck."

"Exactly, only the Jiangning military has these armored trucks, a bit like armored transport beasts, but more useful."

"Impressive!" Several people repeated it, clearly preparing to go spread the news.

Education on the West Continent is nearly nonexistent; aside from nobles who can receive years of basic literacy training, many commoners can't even speak a sentence smoothly, like first or second graders on Earth who turn timid and tongue-tied around three to five strangers. Therefore, those who can come to teahouses to chat are the capable ones among natives everywhere, many even living quite comfortably on secondhand news. The tea stall owner's business largely comes from this.

Shi Qi is a prominent figure at the tea stall because he works in the Jiangning government and has learned daily "Chinese," allowing him to get much "latest news."

A merchant noted down the armored truck info and smiled: "Master Shi, tell us something newer? What are they up to?"

"War, definitely war." Someone beside him spoke up first.

"Like you're the only one who knows." The merchant glared at him, turned to Shi Qi and smiled: "What do you think, sir."

Shi Qi thought for a moment, decided to maintain his status as a well-informed person, and said: "Yesterday's big explosion, you heard about it?"

"The mine blew up?"

"Bullshit, Jiangning people killed their way in."

"Killed their way in!" Everyone at the tea stall was instantly drawn in.

Seeing the news was effective, Shi Qi smiled evasively: "Inside that slave camp, no cages, no guards, slaves could do whatever they wanted as long as they didn't leave town; with such convenient conditions, those old death-row prisoners must have gone crazy with joy. Yesterday, they were washed clean by Jiangning people."

"Washed clean! How were they washed?"

"Can't say more, more trouble if I do." Shi Qi declined; he actually didn't know the details either.

An inspection team appeared on the street in armored vehicles, the leader shouting in the common tongue: "Martial law, martial law, everyone return home, everyone return home."

Shi Qi was the first to pack up and leave; he didn't want to lose his job.

Others left complaining, some even skipping out on the bill. Under the armored vehicle's deterrence, the tea stall owner fell silent, watching many people leave without paying.

"Here's a few copper coins, don't open before martial law ends." The inspection captain tossed a few copper coins from the vehicle; they carried several thousand copper coins per vehicle, worth only twenty to thirty thousand RMB, not even matching the soldiers' salaries inside.

The tea stall owner thanked profusely, packed up and left; the convoy kept advancing, rounding up reservists and driving non-reservists out of public spaces.

All students who came to the West Continent underwent military training; the later they arrived, the more thorough the training. By today, students trained for nearly half a year and had to reach Body Technique Level 4 for a chance to come to the West Continent. This was completely different from the initial no-holds-barred approach.

Gathering these people was not easy, especially while guaranteeing the city's safety and basic production.

Ultimately 12,000 assembled, including 2,500 military and nearly 10,000 Jiangning reservists. The military included a few natives; to slaves, they were equally outsiders.

After a simple mobilization, Chen Heng took command and ordered: "Surround the mine town, blow the work whistle."

The work whistle signals when miners can go to the mining area; it blows twice daily for a full 30 seconds, signaling the shift change for two shifts.

Some miners walked out of their rooms and headed to the mining area.

But some miners were held back by slaves lingering on the streets; slaves from different countries gathered together, forming their own circles.

Strikes are not unique to the capitalist era, nor do they only occur in capitalist countries.

Any area where workers gather may see strikes — refusing to work is the workers' normal state.

And when young, strong workers or former soldiers unite for a common goal, any choice becomes possible.

Suddenly, a slave jumped down from a rooftop, shouting: "They're here, they're all here!"

Before he could explain clearly in his accented common tongue, large numbers of tanks, armored vehicles, and armored tanks surged in covering reservist soldiers.

Most students maintained the small formations taught in the Martial Arts Hall — not very effective, but at least they kept formation; the slaves immediately retreated step by step, some scattering and fleeing home, others clustering together.

Helicopter formations flew overhead.

He Qun glanced around and requested: "Request permission to use tear gas grenades."

"Granted!"

The helicopters dispersed in pairs to the surroundings, each responsible for dropping bombs in a sector.

They dropped an extreme quantity, nearly making it impossible to breathe; needless to say, some certainly died from it, but no one cared.

Armored vehicles began charging into the town, while the mining area began lockdown.

Armored trucks laid iron wire block by block and dispatched reservists to guard. Isolated zones were assigned wheeled armored vehicles to clear — first disperse people on streets, arrest those unwilling to leave, and those lying on the ground.

Strong-bodied individuals kept resisting in various ways; they feigned fainting, hid behind half-collapsed walls, even ambushed in temporarily dug small holes.

But under bean bag rounds, small-caliber rifles, and continuous tear gas grenades, only a dozen or so soldiers were injured.

Hu Yang soon led an assault team to divide the town, then reported: "We're ready to begin house-to-house search."

"Begin. Use tanks to knock down the houses. Repeat once. Do not charge directly into the houses."

Some new recruits drove tanks over unsteadily, like drunk elephants, and the simple houses were immediately knocked down. The slaves inside had to run out, and at that moment the assault team rushed up and bound their hands behind their backs. Since their shoulders could not move at all, such a posture made even standing up very difficult.

The following soldiers used steel cables to link the slaves one by one. Only then did members of the Archive Research Room appear, taking photos of them respectively and comparing them with the existing aerial photo data in the computer, then marking them respectively.

"Handle it from heavy to fast." Chen Heng withdrew his gaze and said to Dai Adi: "Send at least half of them to the Iyar High Priest, ensuring the recovery of an equivalent number of slaves, to guarantee the normal operation of the Mining Area."

"No problem."

"Report to the Rhombus Conference Hall."

When the bell rang, Yu Weichao jumped up in a start. Without waiting for the other party to speak, he asked eagerly first: "Was it successful?"

Dayang couldn't help but pause for a moment, then said: "Successful. Injuries fewer than 20 people. Everything is operating normally."

Only then did Yu Weichao feel his heart thumping.

Nearly 200,000 slaves were extremely dangerous at any time, especially in a mine environment. If they were allowed to break out of the encirclement, there would be guerrilla warfare to fight.

However, compared to his nervous mood, the Iyar High Priest's mood was even more turbulent.

He, who had received the news long ago, first hoped that the slave revolt could crush the West River City Fortress, then hoped Chen Yi would suffer a great loss. When he heard the crisis was resolved, he fantasized that a large number of slave losses could increase slave prices...

However, what he saw was 80,000 living slave captives, and a mine production scale of 100,000 people.

Wiping out the slave revolt without massive personnel casualties, the Iyar High Priest couldn't help but suspect what Chen Yi's Divine Art actually was?

Could it be the Temple High Priest's "Mass Dream Entry"?

Or the "Area Barrier"?

Until Chen Yi appeared, the High Priest was still lost in wild thoughts.

"Is the slave exchange settled?"

"No problem. The High Priest will supplement slaves to us in one month." Yu Weichao made way for his position.

"Thank you, High Priest." Chen Yi shook hands with Iyar.

The latter was professionally responsible for contacting the Jiangning People, and was already very familiar with various etiquette and customs. He smiled politely and said: "It is my honor to serve you."

This sentence was taught to him by a certain official.

Chen Yi smiled faintly and said: "Besides this, I have a new proposal. I am willing to cultivate 1 to 5 Single Divine Art Knights for you, that is, for the Water Dragon Temple. He can choose to be loyal to the Water Dragon Temple or other Divine Arts. This is not renting our Divine Art Knights, nor does it require him to be loyal to the oath, but completely belongs to your Divine Art Knights. The Water Dragon Temple only needs to pay a small amount of necessary expenses. I don't know what the High Priest thinks?"

Iyar's mood fluctuated again.

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