Chapter 560

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

The ground inside the wooden shed was abnormally damp, with a mud pool several yards deep in the middle.

Several powerfully built earth dragons rolled about in the mud pool, having the time of their lives; their few hangers-on merely rubbed against the muddy edge, content with a small taste of the fun. More earth dragons lay in the cool shade beneath the work shed, eyes closed, resting or lost in thought.

Although they were all cloned earth dragons, different postnatal choices forged different paths of development. The proactive ones always ate more, ran longer, and grew stronger, thereby accumulating an ever-greater foundation for dominance. Conversely, those that were lazy or haughty could only scrape by on leftovers, growing ever more frail amid all manner of abuse.

Chen Yi did not interfere with the young beasts' scramble for resources; earth dragons whose sinews and frames failed to meet the standard would be culled during the rearing stage.

Mo Shaoqiu, however, was simply stunned silly; he pondered for half a day before asking, "These... these monsters, they aren't from Earth, are they?"

Chen Yi shook his head lightly and smiled, "They're still in their juvenile stage — earth dragons."

"Juvenile stage? How big do they get when fully grown?"

"Ever seen Yin Senyong's mount? Ten meters tall, or even fifteen meters is possible, and the body length excluding the tail is about the same. Remember those standard thirty-meter-plus knight long spears we sold to the West Continent? Now you know what they're used for?"

Mo Shaoqiu answered without hesitation, "For killing earth dragons."

Looking at these "juvenile" dragons more than ten times his own size, his thinking had definitely been influenced.

Chen Yi was thoroughly disappointed in his thought pattern and said helplessly, "Knight long spears are, of course, for fighting while mounted on earth dragons."

Ono Ayaka of the Orange G Group couldn't understand the complex Chinese; she raised her right hand, her big eyes sparkling, and asked, "Chen Sang, are you raising rhinos?"

Even the earth dragons turned their heads, as if doubting their kinship with rhinos.

A small lizard poked its head out from the center of the mud pool, gazing at the surrounding earth dragons with mocking eyes. Short limbs, a stupid square head, and dirty wrinkled skin — if you only looked at those parts, they did indeed resemble irritable, stupid rhinos.

"A bunch of viviparous rhinos," the little lizard sneered in Chinese, then buried its head back into the muck.

The earth dragons were enjoying a seaweed-bath treatment, which both sterilized and removed dust and gave an air-conditioning-like cool sensation. Needless to say, only the strongest earth dragon, or a certain lizard, could enjoy the best treatment.

The day before yesterday, Misaki lightly covered her mouth and cried out in surprise, "That monster — it just spoke!"

The little lizard immediately lifted its head, wearing an innocent expression.

The earth dragons stepped heavily and quietly avoided this shape-shifting phantom dragon; perhaps in their eyes, it was the true monster.

After dinner, the Orange G Group stayed as usual; Mo Shaoqiu took his leave, and when Fang Yu tried to follow, Chen Yi called him back and asked, "What have you been busy with lately?"

The question sounded casual, but Fang Yu felt a pressure; his mind raced three circles before he said, "Same as before — I've set up a few companies, made a bit of money."

Chen Yi gave a noncommittal response: "I'm short a man here; want to come be an overseer?"

Fang Yu let out a breath, then tensed again, and asked, "Overseer? What's that?"

"About the same as a eunuch's supervising army — no concrete work, just inspecting the loyalty of senior management." Chen Yi chuckled lightly when he mentioned eunuchs.

The corner of Fang Yu's mouth twitched twice; as if possessed, he answered, "Okay, doing what?"

"Just be the overseer of this pasture. The earth dragons must not only be raised well, but nothing must go wrong. Treat this place as a military restricted zone." Standing on the grassland, Chen Yi explained Fang Yu's authority and duties on the spot.

Fang Yu listened and nodded, pausing occasionally, while secretly observing Chen Yi's expression.

From some unknown time, the younger generation at home all acted like mice seeing a cat whenever they saw Chen Yi — obedient as sacrificial offerings. They might think it was the advantage brought by Chen Yi's confirmed status as heir, but only the young people who had undergone martial arts hall training understood that the pressure of standing beside Chen Yi was real, not merely a spiritual disadvantage.

He then introduced Liang Shi to Fang Yu, and in one go Chen Yi transferred out 2,500 juvenile earth dragons, the selection standard based on the juveniles' developmental condition rather than age. Cloned animals are not simple copies; aside from asexual reproduction, their growth environment holds nothing special, and they develop all sorts of differences once grown. Some stem from education, some purely from environment. Be it the former or the latter, they can never be completely identical. Therefore, fantasizing that cloned individuals will be exactly the same as the mother source can only be called wishful conspiracy theory. A simple example: put fifty identical cloned juveniles together, and they will naturally fight, inevitably producing kings and weaklings. The instant that dividing line appears, every juvenile's future changes.

Divine Art Knights need not only strong mounts, but brave mounts — mounts that dare charge toward pain and death.

Earth dragons that fail even to wrest the mud pool from peers with the same starting point have no qualification to serve as a Divine Art Knight's mount.

The 2,500 juveniles filled thirty sections of the Water-Land Divine Carriage; the stifling air made them a bit restless, requiring Chen Yi to constantly diffuse divine power to soothe them.

When it came time to enter the channel, Chen Yi held the Water-Land Divine Carriage with one hand and lifted a ten-thousand-ton giant ship with the other, strolling in leisurely. Compared to modern industrially manufactured vessels, the Water-Land Divine Carriage only counts as a more convenient amphibious ship, seriously mismatched with its value, so it became Chen Yi's dedicated cargo-hauling tool; however, the juveniles took up vast space, so the goods had to continue by ship.

Very few Divine Art Knights have seen Chen Yi use divine power; watching section after section of the Water-Land Divine Carriage vanish into the subway gate, they were practically dumbfounded.

Their power, though great, has limits — especially newly advanced Divine Art Knights, whose grasp of source energy is insufficient; being unable to move thousand-ton-class ships is common. Chen Yi pulling the thirty-section Water-Land Divine Carriage in with one hand was already astonishing; single-handedly lifting a ten-thousand-ton giant ship simply defied comprehension.

"How is this done?"

"Heard Lord Chen Yi has a Strength Scroll."

"Impossible — a Strength Scroll gives at most a few thousand tons of force; we've used them." The discussants were all Divine Art Knights; Combat Knights, by contrast, unclear on the limits and difficulty of source energy, naturally took Chen Yi's marvels for granted.

Upon reaching the West Continent, Chen Yi set down the ten-thousand-ton giant ship, let it tow the Water-Land Divine Carriage, and sent them toward the simple dock three hundred kilometers away, while he himself returned to the official residence to work.

By evening, Chen Yi finally boarded a helicopter and accurately rendezvoused with the various envoys.

"Mr. Chen." Sima Jian drove up in a jeep and shouted before the vehicle even came to a stop.

"Hm?"

"Mr. Chen, our Sima Family hopes to join as a supplier for the Temple War." Sima Jian's voice was impassioned, fully prepared to argue.

Yu Weichao behind him was both ashamed and angry, yet helpless.

Although no tempting conditions had been offered to the Sima Family, their deep-rooted influence still exceeded everyone's expectations; relying on banknotes to buy several hundred tons of supplies weekly — ordinary people could have the money but still couldn't do it.

Now they had finally found a good direction.

Supplying military force to one side in the Temple War brings not only economic benefits, but also abundant political benefits. It's like being an imperial merchant — and one choking the war's throat at that; if operated well, wouldn't you get whatever you want?

Chen Yi did not refuse, but countered, "What goods do you want to supply?"

"Military food."

"Oh?" Chen Yi glanced at him. Several firms already dealt in military food; the threshold was low and profits rich, and most importantly it could be processed using local materials, making it one of the best industries in the short term. Letting other Chen Clan families run it, or martial arts hall students raise capital to start up, would be no problem — only the Sima Family was an exception.

Right now they were effectively observers. Chen Yi couldn't help but suspect whether Sima Jian had some other agenda.

"The food market is huge — is Mr. Chen afraid we'll eat it all? Or does he want to eat it all himself?" Sima Jian deliberately provoked. In the pure Chen Clan world, the Sima Family had a hard time; his privileges didn't even equal a Fourth-Rank Clerk's, and he desperately wanted to change that.

Chen Yi looked at his eyes with a calm, breezy demeanor, staring until Sima Jian looked away, then said, "Since you've come to the West Continent, whatever business you want to do is your own affair. Just remember not to violate regulations."

Finished speaking, he boarded the helicopter.

The Sima Family had already built the food factory; Chen Yi's agreement only determined whether the factory's goods could be sold to the Temple. In other respects, blind obstruction was meaningless. After all, they had spent over a hundred million in gold bonds to transport so much machinery and equipment.

No matter how poor the goods, as long as they invest on the West Continent, it is equal to putting money into Chen Yi's pocket; the only thing he wants to do is merely to disguise justice.

Justice upon the foundation of rules.

The helicopter took 30 minutes to arrive at the simple dock that would take a ship 10 hours. The temple envoys who came last time all came again, and the Fire Dragon Temple and Water Dragon Temple even sent new responsible persons.

The Fire Dragon Temple's principal envoy had become a red-haired old man, about 120 years old, the wrinkles at his eye corners deep like the skin of an earth dragon.

The Water Dragon Temple sent a High Priest, rank equivalent to Yi Yaer, but serving on the war front line.

In addition, the Wood Dragon Temple's envoy entourage increased by 4 people, the Allied Forces Second Elite Legion's quartermasters became 3, and simultaneously added were representatives of the Allied Forces Third Elite Legion and Southern Elite Legion.

The four parties' representatives became six parties; Chen Yi was very certain they had not deliberately leaked the news. Actually it was so — 400 earth dragon young beasts, just the food alone was enough to arouse suspicion.

"Lord Chen Yi, last time's remuneration." The Fire Dragon Temple's old man raised a large chest one meter square with hands like dry straw.

After the previous envoys respectfully saluted, they lifted the chest lid, and inside were actually all bundled gold bonds; by the look of it, at least hundreds of millions.

Indeed, compared to gold, banknotes have better payment attributes. Everyone anticipated that Chen Yi would release even more young beasts this time.

To raise these gold bonds that the West River City-States promised to collect, they had expended no small effort.

…… (Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)