Chapter 70: Chapter Seventy-Two: Whereabouts

In the third month of Heartnet's release, the families of warriors and post-war soldiers and their families saturated faster than anyone imagined, and the World Tree's supply capacity exceeded the imagination of the vast majority of people.

The spread of Heartnet finally had to reach a broader population; facing this irreversible fact, the leaders of various countries were also some happy, some worried.

However, this month everyone's attention was destined to be drawn to something else: the new term's Dragon Gate examination was about to begin.

Because the war continued until May, plus a series of post-war rectifications, the examination originally scheduled to be held at the beginning of the year was pushed to August.

And the reason Dragon Gate's recruitment this time attracted so much attention was not only because the postponed examination reopened, but also because this term's Dragon Gate examination no longer adopted the recommendation-based examination format previously used by various factions.

Dragon Gate's brand-new recruitment announcement called for aspiring warriors up to war-general-level warriors from around the world.

By conducting the first round of screening through the Virtual Duel Arena within Heartnet, passing the first round grants eligibility to take the Dragon Gate examination.

Dragon Gate, the place where one ascends to become a dragon upon entering.

Over the past year, Dragon Gate's reputation, like that of the World Tree, has spread throughout the land.

The youthful heroes active on the various battlefields, the older ones nearing thirty and the younger just eighteen, are precisely these people who have brought humanity a glimmer of hope, and most of them come from Dragon Gate.

If Heartnet ignited the expectations of ordinary people, then Dragon Gate's recruitment this time has caused the warrior world to boil over completely.

Yanjing.

The several planetary-level powerhouses of Huaguo happened to gather together, and Ji Heng held a tea cup, offering cup after cup to several of them.

"I, Old Zhu, am truly fortunate; I even have the chance to drink the tea that Xiao Ji Heng prepared for us."

"Xiao Heng is now also a planetary-level powerhouse; from now on we'll be of the same generation, and maybe one day she'll become our senior." Hahaha.

The speaker was a somewhat chubby middle-aged martial artist, one of Ji Heng's masters, Zhu Dafu.

He cares about saving face; because his name, given by his deceased parents, lacks grandeur and he is reluctant to change it, few people know his name.

Ji Heng returned to her seat with a cup, rolled her eyes, and said: "That's fine; from now on the Third Master will call me senior. I just don't know what the Second Master and Third Master plan to call my senior self, Ji Heng."

"Hahaha," the tall martial artist beside him laughed, and after laughing he asked Zhu Dafu:

"Right, how do you plan to address it? Speak quickly."

Zhu Dafu gave the tall martial artist a cold glance, lifted his tea and took a light sip before saying: "Have I been speaking to you?"

"Hahaha"

The heartily laughing tall martial artist is named Deng Zhangming, who is also Ji Heng's Second Master.

Meanwhile, Jia Yi, seated in the center, is Ji Heng's Eldest Master and also her foster father.

Jia Yi quietly sipped the tea brewed by Ji Heng, looking at the girl who had grown into a big young woman before him; each time he felt a sense of unreality, as if he had just picked up this child a few days ago.

Seeing the Eldest Master's gaze, Ji Heng felt something was amiss.

"Eldest Master, please stop bringing up my embarrassing childhood stories; I'm begging you." Ji Heng made a pleading expression toward Jia Yi, who was about to speak.

Jia Yi could only smile bitterly, taking back the words on his lips: "Yes, Xiao Heng has grown up."

"Alright, let's just get to the end." Ji Heng spread her hands and complained helplessly.

Because the last time we met, and the time before that, Jia Yi also ended with that sentence; and Ji Heng imitating Jia Yi's previous action made the several "old guys," including Jia Yi himself, burst into laughter.

After several rounds of teasing, Jia Yi still took the opportunity to ask about the issue he had been most concerned about recently.

"Xiao Heng, what do you think about the recent developments with Heartnet and Dragon Gate's recruitment?"

Although even when they first contacted the World Tree and began cooperation, Jia Yi and the other high-ranking officials had already made mental preparations, yet when the day actually arrived, some people would still start having ulterior motives, especially given that it had almost been confirmed that monsters no longer pose a threat.

Those who wanted to change their stance were naturally not Jia Yi; in fact, including Jia Yi, most of the powerhouses viewed the World Tree very favorably and deeply understood what humanity's fate would be without it.

However, regarding the World Tree's recent series of actions, Jia Yi found some of them hard to understand.

Ji Heng curled the corner of her mouth slightly and frankly spoke her true thoughts:

"Heartnet will be humanity's most important treasure."

"As for the Dragon Gate newcomer examination, I hope more talents will emerge."

Jia Yi first stared, then gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and said: "A grown daughter should not be kept."

On the side, Deng Zhangming also sipped his tea and joked: "Alright, give me a Xiao Hengzi; after just one year at the World Tree, she's already selling herself out."

What Ji Heng said was true, but it came entirely from the perspective of the World Tree; although there was a bit of deliberate intent, it also expressed her stance.

Ji Heng rolled her eyes and retorted angrily: "I'm just seriously answering your questions, okay?"

"I know, the Eldest Master probably thinks the World Tree has been too hasty lately, right?"

Ji Heng was trained together by those several old men, so she naturally understands their personalities better than anyone.

"That's right."

Since there were no outsiders present, Jia Yi saw no need to beat around the bush.

"Haste makes waste; given the World Tree's current strength and influence, there's no need to be so… urgent."

"Being so forceful now might actually provoke a backlash."

That's exactly the case; although the World Tree has already won the hearts of the people, its post-war hasty and forceful approach has actually caused many to feel dissatisfied.

Ji Heng let out a slight sigh, her gaze turning sharp, and she countered Jia Yi:

"If we don't do this, will they not become dissatisfied?"

"Is it to prolong the war a bit more to wear down their morale, or to sit down and promise them benefits?"

Ji Heng's tone carried three parts anger; this anger was naturally not directed at the several masters, but at those people whom the masters sought to protect.

That's how ignorant people are: once they lose an external enemy, they extend their claws toward their fellow countrymen.

Jia Yi looked at Ji Heng; the small figure in his eye gradually enlarged, overlapping with the figure before him, and Jia Yi knew that this time, this child had truly grown up.

Beside him, Deng Zhangming also sighed and said:

"Xiao Ji Heng, you also know that over these many years, they have also contributed a lot; we simply cannot just watch…"

He had spoken only halfway when Jia Yi stopped him.

"Leave it to me to resolve."

Ji Heng's brows relaxed, understanding that Jia Yi meant for her to step forward and suppress those who had harbored ulterior motives.

He shot a displeased glance at the several masters, then poured them several cups of tea, speaking as he poured.

"You guys are just worrying for nothing, making us have to do some zz cleaning; rest assured, as long as we suppress the masters until they can't breathe, they'll naturally raise their hands and surrender."

"They're not stupid; there's no need for you, old man, to show up personally—in fact, those few masters are their last bargaining chip now."

Seeing Ji Heng's fawning manner, Jia Yi both wanted to laugh and felt helpless, thinking he might have taught this child too well, now he's cheaply given away to others.

"Actually, I brought a mission with me this time when I came back; it just so happens I can also help a few of the masters."

"World Tree, we would like to formally invite a few of you to join."

————

Xin Wang Shi Jie

Because of recent events, Jian Mu has been busy to the point of being frazzled.

Firstly, in the real world, the Heartnet front-end is indeed made from Jian Mu's own leaves; it should be said that they are originally Jian Mu's leaves, without any later processing.

Actually, that's not right; it should be said that the processing is also done by Jian Mu himself.

At first it was fine; each batch was only sixty to seventy thousand, and only three to five batches a day came out. Although calculated by volume, it would be stripped bare every few days, but the growth after being stripped could barely keep up.

But after entering the second batch, daily demand rose to millions of units; if it weren't for the father leaving some wood sapling crystals that could quickly replenish, relying solely on the previously stockpiled batch of food, I would probably have been stripped bare long ago.

Whenever I hear someone in Heartnet talking about the Heartnet front-end seeming to have a new style, Jian Mu's heart bleeds.

That's because the new leaves haven't even fully grown yet! (╥﹏╥)

Moreover, there's also the recent Dragon Gate recruitment.

Although producing the Heartnet front-end is heartbreaking, with a bit of effort it still lies within Jian Mu's capabilities; although the oath ceremony needs to be presided over, it only requires opening a few more servers to run idle.

But the Dragon Gate examination requires Jian Mu to personally handle the batching of large numbers of examiners and the virtual content of the exam, which is really tough on Jian Mu.

Although the construction of Heartnet World is greatly related to Jian Mu, Jian Mu's existence is merely like that of a connection line, mainly responsible for maintaining and strengthening the link between registrants and Heartnet World.

And the memory, central processing unit, and graphics card of Xin Wang Shi Jie are naturally all concentrated in the person of Chén Chén, the spirit of Earth.

However, recently, the work of memory and graphics card has been dispersed in the form of Heartnet nodes.

And as a data line, Jian Mu is now doing the work of the central processing unit, entirely through Jian Mu's own mental power and the extra permissions granted by Chén Chén to manipulate.

In four words, that is, exhausted to death.

As for the father who should be handling these matters, he is busy with more important things.

According to the father's far-sighted vision, the future Heartnet will surely bear a heavy burden, and the Heartnet's completely new construction has also given the father new inspiration, but for himself to nurture a new younger sibling.

Sigh, for the sake of the younger siblings, Jian Mu decided to grit his teeth and endure this period.

I hope the new younger sibling is a bit cuter than A Yun; no, little A Yun is still cute. What I mean is that they should be more obedient, not always like little A Yun who keeps liking to play tricks on me.

————

In the deep sea of the central Atlantic.

Gloomy cold, dark.

The monster sovereigns driven back by humanity have once again gathered together.

Last time there were fewer faces, and this time a few newly promoted beast sovereigns have joined.

Some didn't come, others couldn't come.

The reason they gathered here is because the Avian Sovereign "Phoenix", attendant of the Monster King revered as the Honored Lord, sent a message containing news concerning the life-and-death survival of all monster clans.

"Phoenix, hasn't the Honored Lord come over?" a sea beast asked the Phoenix, his tone obviously somewhat despondent.

Mending Heaven not being present, the Phoenix's size among the beast sovereigns is extremely small; usually unnoticed, the Phoenix now seems even smaller.

Even some of the beast sovereigns present are speaking for the first time: "No."

"He told me to bring you to the new world."

A few months ago, the monsters retreated once more on the front battlefield, but they were far from reaching the point of defeat; on the contrary, many beast sovereigns believe the next battle will be the time to destroy humanity.

But at this very moment, the land monsters and flying monsters, the two main forces of the monster army, directly withdrew from the battlefield.

Although sea monsters have always been the absolute main force among the three, the full retreat of the flying and land monsters not only caused the monster forces to lose nearly a quarter of their strength, but also left the monster front battlefield lacking striking power from sky and underground, which is also why the war ended.

Also for this reason, among the rumors of many sea monsters, the flying and walking beast clans have already become deserters.

"New world? What new world? Is that stinky groundhog just fled there?"

The "Xianyu" who bears a deep grudge against Gulaton shouted angrily.

"Not fleeing, this is the Honored Lord's command."

The Phoenix replied in a cold, clear voice.

"Impossible! How could the Honored Lord possibly let us flee? If we flee, the Honored Lord will surely die! You couldn't possibly not know this, Phoenix—you're greedy for life and afraid of death!"

"You didn't speak up then, so I assumed you didn't agree; that stinky groundhog was the first to step forward and say he'd take his share, yet he was the first to run!"

Xianyu's towering stature is the largest present; his strength also rose later, and among the many sea beast sovereigns he is among the top two; when he gets angry, the surrounding previously still waters surge wildly.

The Phoenix ignored Xianyu's anger and said on his own:

"I merely came back to convey the Honored Lord's order; those willing to leave, I will guide."

"I'd like to see who dares!" Xianyu shouted angrily.

"Phoenix, you are betraying."

The Phoenix remained silent, looking at Xianyu, or rather should be called Blue Whale.

Only Xianyu knows, the Phoenix is saying:

"You know, I will not defy the Honored Lord's command."

At the moment the two were silent, a mad shark net suddenly surged up, aiming at the Phoenix to strike: "Traitor!"

Xianyu had just spaced out, wanting to stop it, but it was already too late; the mad shark king had already approached the Phoenix's body.

"Roar—woo—"

The mad shark king's howl gradually turned into a wail; the painful sound echoed through the seabed.

The blue flame, at the bottom of the deep sea where it was a hundred degrees below zero, scorched a Beast Emperor.

The pained sound gradually faded, and as it was about to breathe its last, a stream of water bearing a deep blue light blasted the Mad Shark King away from the Phoenix's side.

The source of that water flow was precisely the Blue Whale.

Watching the blue water vaporize in an instant, the Blue Whale stared fixedly at the Phoenix.

"As expected, you are the strongest."

The Phoenix gave no reply, silently turned its body, and slowly flew downward, leaving a tiny point of light in the gloomy deep sea.

The light point on the back of the salted fish swam toward the dark place in the deep sea.

"If you want to leave, then get lost."