Chapter 335: New Era Triangular Trade

Well, old folks, as they age, it's inevitable that some parts will malfunction and need careful tuning and maintenance. Coincidentally, I've been studying this area recently, so I carried out clinical practice with some related alchemy techniques, and so far the results are still quite good.

Buluowa heard Ji Ming say that and thought, This kid's talent for lying is really strong; he can say it without blushing or getting out of breath, just spouting it out.

In order to explain AdaiEr's question, she could not think of a better excuse, so she could only nod reluctantly.

Yeah, about right.

Wow~

AdaiEr's eyes lit up instantly.

So Doctor, you've already mastered such profound knowledge? It seems I still have a lot to learn in this area.

Then she started dropping hints nonstop, saying things like she's been feeling unable to cope with treatment lately, that her medical knowledge has hit a bottleneck and urgently needs a breakthrough—basically, since you're at that level, why won't you teach me? Hurry up and take me under your wing!

It's good for young people to be eager to learn, so Ji Ming took the opportunity to paint a pie.

This new technique isn't mature yet; rolling it out now would be premature. How about this: you keep researching the formula for the Rejuvenation Liquid, and once I've fully systematized and formalized this knowledge, I'll teach you all of it.

Never mind, maybe the old ladies have some private matters to discuss; it's better to avoid them for now.

Buluowa got even angrier, and taking advantage of her long arms, she hammered Tenisi's head.

And after Ji Ming closed the door and his footsteps faded away, Tenisi immediately reached out and grabbed Buluowa's cheek.

... Justice cut, thanks. I also don't know where he learned that move, but as long as I didn't teach it, that's fine.

After confirming that Buluowa's curse had been lifted, the smiling Tenisi froze for a full twenty seconds, only returning to normal when Buluowa gave a light cough.

After another twenty seconds of being silenced by hard control, feeling that there were no outsiders here and that her true self as an old friend was already known, she simply tossed aside her usual bishop-like elegance and grace and grabbed her hair.

Usually the archbishop would definitely fight back, but now she had no reaction at all, merely restoring her previous stiff smile and mechanically sitting back in her original spot.

Buluowa, in pain, immediately slapped away Tenisi's hand, and as her face, stretched like a rubber band in a cartoon, rebounded, it let out an extremely loud sound.

AdaiEr didn't want any rest this time; she rushed straight into the brewing room, lit the stove, and stewed the paste, determined to research a fourth-generation 2.0 Rejuvenation Liquid today no matter what.

He slightly raised his head, and when the Forest God was tormented by alchemical poison gas to the point of only being able to writhe on the ground like a maggot, he spoke with deep feeling.

Buluowa nodded.

Ah? But I've only just come in for less than a minute...

No way! Your curse was really lifted? How is that possible? That was a curse set by a true god—even the Holy Light God himself doesn't have much confidence in breaking it.

Hmm, oh, really? That's truly great news… Ji Ming, could you step out for a moment?

Wait, could it be that Ji Ming took you to go find that... Lord of All Spirits?

And seeing the ever-smiling Great Swindler Ji Ming, as well as AdaiEr inexplicably pumped up, Buluowa could only shake her head and sigh.

Her eyeballs twitched twice, and suddenly she thought of something.

Returning to Sunlight City still had things to do, so Ji Ming and Buluowa didn't delay any further, taking a carriage to the Holy Light Church.

AdaiEr, remember, alchemy exists to bring health and happiness to others.

Hey, what are you doing!?

Old people's skin usually lacks elasticity, so pulling it takes a very long time to return to its original state—that was Buluowa's previous condition, but now...

For someone like me who's been 'dead' for many years, the only professional match seems to be Him.

Tenisi originally thought that even if the Lord of All Spirits were a true god, he'd be an old guy who clung from ancient times to today just to attain the Dao, surely a disgrace to true gods in strength and ability—she never expected him to actually have such capabilities.

No wonder the Holy Light God would ally with him and share weal and woe; it turns out it's not a strategic investment of old bringing in new, but a genuine powerhouse union.

But no matter what——

That's really great—once the curse is lifted, your vitality and lifespan should return to normal, congratulations, from now on you...

Saying this, Tenisi's expression suddenly changed again.

Wait, if your lifespan returns to normal, doesn't that mean you still have at least a few thousand years left to live?

Buluowa, who hadn't thought of this yet, froze for a moment, then took a sip of water to collect her thoughts.

As a Golden Race, the Golden Elves collectively known as the Holy Nine Surnames usually have lifespans of nearly ten thousand years, even if this deep bone‑marrow curse has taken a chunk off. Considering she was only a teenager of over a thousand years old when cursed, those few thousand years...

Seems to be exactly that.

Then we're doomed!

Tenisi's face instantly fell into mourning.

I thought you'd die before me, but now you're pretending to have a shortened lifespan while I'm truly old! In this life I have no descendants, so you'd better remember to dig my grave and sweep my tomb later.

Pfft...

Buluowa nearly spat out the water in her mouth.

You want me to dig your grave? Only a lonely wandering ghost like me needs someone else to dig a grave!

No matter what you say, you're still the archbishop of the Holy Light Church; when you die you'll definitely get a grand funeral on Holy Mountain! Then believers will come every day to pay their respects, annoying the hell out of you, old ghost.

Oh, that's good.

Tenisi finally relaxed, tousling her messy hair as she leaned back against the chair.

After a long while, she suddenly opened her eyes, stood up, and headed toward the office door, only to be stopped halfway by Buluowa.

Hey, where are you going?

Telisi gritted her teeth.

I suddenly remembered that I too had been cursed when I was young, so I'm going to see Ji Ming to ask if the Lord of All Spirits can help me too—maybe I could extend my life by a few hundred years!

... Get lost, you old thing!

After two more days passed since lifting the old lady's curse, everything was proceeding steadily as Ji Ming had expected.

But just as he was finishing up his arrangements in the Underground World so he could peacefully follow the archbishops to the Guanghui Capital, he suddenly received new information.

It wasn't the Aurora Dance asking for new resources, nor was it Xi Er Wei Ya reporting a new development in the Underground City; rather, it was the long‑silent friend 【Damang Cang Lang】 in the friend list.

Moreover, as a soldier, he didn't start with the annoying 'Are you there?' that people hate; he just posted exactly what he wanted to say.

【In our bureau we've already picked the site, finished the design and planning, so if you're free this afternoon come by—I'll take you around with Fei Ying.】

Although Ji Ming refused to further reveal his identity within the bureau, as an information dealer he is undoubtedly qualified; recently he has picked out quite a few useful items to sell to them, and compared to other forces' scouts who are still fumbling in the dark, he can already be considered a top‑notch spy.

So they suddenly invited him to visit a place whose definition is unknown but is absolutely a highly confidential area that ordinary people cannot enter—could it be that they want to maintain mutual trust between the two sides?

Ji Ming now although he is Thus we will have Cultivation: Zhen Shen, the test site is limited to the Underground World, so his omniscient authority over the Divine Kingdom is also limited to there; therefore he has no detailed understanding of the land that players have opened up on the Barbaric Plains.

Therefore, both emotionally and logically, he realized that before leaving this place, he actually really needed to go on a field inspection.

As the largest city in the southern part of the Hui Guang Kingdom, continuing south from Sunshine City one completely leaves the Hui Guang Kingdom's sphere of influence and arrives at true civilization's outskirts—the Barbaric Plains.

The so‑called Barbaric Plains is actually the general name for this region; if a finer division is made, it can be split into the Wasteland and the Savage Lands.

This small northwestern section that stretches all the way to the vast mountain forests of the Shen Lin Wang Guo is called the Savage Lands; it includes beastfolk tribes, human mercenaries, and gatherings of other‑raced peoples, as well as spiritfolk hermits, strange caverns, and monster clans…

In this place whose composition is even more complex than the Internet, one can find almost everything from the book, whether good or bad, possessing considerable species diversity.

Continuing southward, after emerging with difficulty from this forest, one will see a vast expanse of lush water‑grass and a sky‑green plain stretching to the horizon—that is the Wasteland located in the southeastern part of the Barbaric Plains, occupying more land.

As for why this region has a name that bears no relation to its reality, it is because beneath the azure‑azure dome sky, the makeup of sentient beings here suddenly becomes extremely simple.

It may be dominated by beastfolk or by other‑raced peoples; in any case this is a paradise for countless nomadic tribes, a place where neither the deep forest nor the Hui Guang Kingdom can gain a foothold or obtain any benefit, and thus it is naturally what they regard as that so‑called desolate land.

The strange council of the Wendigo, and the Wolf King's Court currently cooperating with it, are located here; after their strong alliance, they have been gradually unifying this vast prairie and will inevitably begin a northern expedition whose primary goal is territorial expansion.

If Ji Ming were a pure transmigrator, he would certainly not carve out his sphere of influence in the Savage Lands, a disputed territory caught between several powers; but now his force is composed of players, and at the very least he also has an Underground Divine Kingdom to fall back on.

Therefore, after players leave the novice village and have explored Sunshine City, their next destination is the Savage Lands, where they must stake out territory by guild and establish their own stronghold.

At this point, friends with better memories might ask: earlier, Sunshine City was closed for so long—wasn't it said that the surrounding hills had already been occupied by all kinds of bandits and thieves? So which territories are the players actually occupying?

"Generous gift crab, we can definitely make a killing this time, bro!"

On a small path in the woods, a group of royal players with waist tags reading 【Super London Eye】 were marching along, chatting and laughing.

The reason they are so pleased is the ragged, burly men wearing ropes behind them, row after row.

In the early stage of the players' southward advance, they indeed faced much harassment from bandits and outlaws, and even had some reckless overconfidence, resulting in several careless individuals being captured alive on the spot by the bandits.

If it weren't for the fact that the game cannot let you escape the bitter tea, and if there weren't also a one‑click restart function to help you get out, otherwise one couldn't even imagine what would happen to this bunch of delicate‑skinned players in the bandits' lair!

Can provoking the players ever end well? Thus the bandits hadn't even finished celebrating when they were met with the players' renewed joint effort, a frenzied strike of retaliation.

If the players would simply kill them outright, that would be fine—being outmatched, death settles it, and they wouldn't utter a word of complaint.

Whether it is the Underground World or the players' own territories, whether organizing production or any kind of construction, now everything is in a state of neglect awaiting revival, urgently needing manpower.

And even if not needed, captives and such can all be sold to the game officials, so it wasn't long before players discovered that selling bandits is a hugely profitable venture.

"Eh, selling labor?"

This truly is an awakening of ancestral bloodlines, as European players hurriedly formed their own slave‑catching… anti‑bandit battalions.

In less than three days, they went from being chased by bandits and outlaws to chasing those bandits and outlaws, sweeping over every hill they saw like a sieve, almost wanting to grab even three‑year‑old toddlers.

The Pioneers' menace spread this way from the Black Forest Territory to farther places; even the threat that parents in small villages use to lull their children to sleep changed from "being snatched by a mountain cat to have its heart and liver eaten" to "being seized by the Pioneers and locked in a black coal mine."

And thus a triangular cycle was born—"go to the Savage Lands to ruthlessly capture slaves," "go to the Underground World to heavily traffic slaves," "go to Sunshine City to purchase all kinds of supplies and continue increasing effort"—and in just a few short days the whole process of its birth, growth, and expansion was completed.

Therefore, when Ji Ming earlier examined the recent data of the Underground World, he was surprised to discover that he had just finished processing a batch of captives, and already received more.

One must understand that labor reform is not merely setting up a black coal mine, nor simply shoving people in and frantically pressing 【Miner 1】 to finish; it requires systematic and proper management and planning, otherwise it would just become abuse of prisoners.

Therefore, after the several mines surveyed underground became overcrowded, the remaining captives could only be continually stuffed into the battleship prison; although the place is large enough for now, locking them all up here is undoubtedly a waste of productivity.

Thus the newly formed Spirit Council welcomed its first ordinary members; after admiring the splendid coordination of the necromancer and the believer warriors, as well as the great abilities of several councilors, they resolved to henceforth be upstanding people and never again live off others' work as they used to.