Chapter 342

Perhaps because he overuses his brain in daily scheming, Ji Ming has a little flaw: sitting too long makes him feel tired, and if he has nothing to do he'll even nod off.

He sat alone in the carriage, calm and steady, clearly meeting all the conditions perfectly, so it was only natural that his eyelids started to droop.

But as soon as he narrowed his eyes, he heard a sharp sound in his ear.

Hurry up and read!

Holy shit, the old coot is stirring trouble!

At a startled cry, Ji Ming glanced around the carriage, finding everything normal except for the knight outside, who hesitantly asked a question.

"What's wrong, God's Chosen? Are you facing any problems?"

Also line 7: "God's Chosen" appears as address.

"It's fine, I'm just reading."

"Yeah, if you need anything, just let me know."

After blowing off the diligent guard, Ji Ming let out a light sigh and tapped his buzzing head.

Although the old lady had put on a refusal to communicate before parting, when the carriage was about to move, she still reluctantly came over and said, "Be careful on the road."

Not giving Ji Ming even a hint of emotion, immediately came the infuriating line, "Remember to read quickly!" which made Ji Ming regret asking her to take better care of Adel, wondering if he'd driven the poor kid to autism.

In any case, although the old lady isn't here, her earlier pressure on Ji Ming actually worked; now whenever he thinks of slacking off, the phrase "Hurry up and read!" automatically plays in his ear, similar to the classic "Can you sleep at your age?"

— Damn, but I'm already an alchemist, so why rush to read?

Ji Ming had no choice but to take out the supplies from his ring, deciding to ignore outside noises and focus solely on reading the sages' works.

"Wow, I've accumulated all this food over this period; today I finally have time to savor it properly..."

He had wanted to judge these human artistic fantasies with a critical eye, longing for beauty, to appreciate the human concern within them, but after flipping another page and staring at the center with furrowed brows, he suddenly realized a sad fact.

— Why don't I feel anything?!!!

If it were before, such a powerful action and detailed depiction would have made him marvel enough to risk being banned, sending a screenshot straight to 【Aurora Dance】 with praise, because this strong visual impact could strike the soul, completing the resonance between creator and viewer, the pinnacle of human art.

But now, after seeing this, his thought was:

"This pose isn't something a human can make, right? The bones would break, and with that spray volume, it would directly cause death from dehydration..."

Although the drawing is serious, it's still missing some details that should exist; for example, the flow here should go this way, then...

The human body isn't modeling clay; how could fat be piled up in just a few places like this? The more I look, the more distorted it seems, totally unhealthy...

— Hey, do these lines even sound like speech?

Thus, after half a day, he couldn't remember the plot at all; his mind was full of loopholes and issues in the artwork and plot design, nitpicking like a relentless... life and body studies specialist alchemist.

Fortunately, as a Pure Love War God, his collection doesn't

It can only be said that, fortunately, as a Pure Love War God, his collection does not include the somewhat explicit works that the male and female leads enjoy; otherwise he might even catch a whiff of a vile, all‑five‑poisons, bio‑mother‑level stench.

"I'm doomed; I shouldn't have become a ditch alchemist. From now on, everything I look at seems like a doctor's check‑up."

However, Ji Ming, huddled with a comic in his seat, felt that life would now lose a bit of joy; before he could even taste this despair, he heard a sound from outside the window again.

"Sorry to bother you, God's Chosen Sir. We're about to leave the Black Forest Territory; would you like to personally see the sun you haven't seen in a while?"

Sun?

After staying over three months in the sunless Sunlight City, Ji Ming was nearly accustomed to the unchanging gloom from morning to night; hearing that word left him momentarily dazed, wondering what it meant.

"Then let's take a look."

He then pulled back the curtains, opened the window, and, leaning out through the small opening, looked up at the sky. He saw that the thick dark clouds ahead were indeed suddenly cut off as if sliced by a knife. It was noon, and a more intense light poured down from the horizon onto the ground, making the distant mountains appear as if edged in gold.

Such divine craftsmanship made Ji Ming unable to help but marvel, staring continuously at the sky, wanting to personally feel what it would be like for the sunlight of Yangyue World to shine upon him.

But when the carriage finally left that cloud‑filled area, he noticed that, besides warmth, there was also a clear presence upon him—its source vague and illusory, as if a gaze from the nine heavens above.

【Um, Savior, just now Cog Moon seemed to have glanced at you.】

Ji Ming didn't speak, but replied silently in his heart.

"No, it's not just me it's looking at—it's every person in the convoy. When we were chatting with Little Lion earlier, we already attracted Cog Moon's attention. If I didn't have divine power protecting me, and if there weren't gray mist shielding the sky, we would have been discovered then."

"But even as a silicon‑based lifeform, it hasn't given up; it has probably been watching the surroundings of the Black Forest Territory this whole time, observing everyone coming and going here, trying to find out who exactly is the one who coaxed Little Lion into revealing Bofeier's true name."

After hearing Ji Ming's analysis and speculation, Xiao Laoban also fell into deep, thoughtful contemplation for a long time.

【What should we do now?】

: "……" No.

"What else can we do? Obviously play dead—we can't have it looking at me while I look at it, and it staring at me while I just fire back."

"Nothing to say, nothing happened, let's roll!"

However, Cog Moon's database seems to have recorded Little Lion's scent; even after he was turned into a Death Knight following his death, his location can still be ascertained.

Therefore, after detecting the presence of the Lion Heart King, that gaze lingered above the convoy for a long time, essentially examining every single person there in detail.

What's worse is that the others in the convoy lack any blessing of worldly will or empowerment from a higher god, so they have no idea that someone is staring at them from that satellite outside Yangyue right now; consequently, only Ji Ming feels uncomfortable all over.

"Damn!"

Ji Ming had thought that after building up experience for so long on Sunlight City's ten‑li slope, once he left he would at least be able to roam freely—'the sea wide for the fish to leap, the sky high for the birds to fly'—even if not unbeatable in the current era.

Who would have thought that trying to sleep would get him yelled awake by the old lady, trying to read comics would kill his interest due to alchemy knowledge, and now that he finally has a chance to bask in the sun, it's like being on a reality show, with a bunch of cameras staring him down.

——Damn, as soon as he left his own turf he got hit three times in a row—there's no one to blame!

Too bad even if Cog Moon suspects something, what can it do? The people in the convoy are still high‑value; sending a weak opponent would just be giving away free wins with nothing gained, while sending a strong one might win but could easily provoke an early war within two months—either way it's not worthwhile.

Therefore, after repeatedly observing it several times, it, helpless, could only temporarily shelve this plan and withdraw its gaze.

"How unlucky!"

Ji Ming silently cursed, but Yangyue had already started popping champagne in his field of vision through text.

【Oh, we won! In front of the 147th savior I carefully prepared, even Cog Moon can only suffer a crushing defeat!】

"Um, does the Cog Moon know that it lost?"

【I don't know, but it doesn't matter—I'm just happy to have enjoyed myself!】

His train of thought is quite outrageous, but considering he's a small boss, it's actually normal.

Ji Ming looked at the sun, which was about the same size as Earth's, for a while, then simply took out an alchemy classic to study. But just as he was earnestly studying, he felt that gaze descend again.

Xieyue seemed quite unwilling to have finally waited for the Lionheart King to leave the gray mist, stared with eyes wide for a long time but got nothing, so he simply unleashed a returning spear.

And all that afternoon, it was just like a parent on vacation at home with nothing to do, supervising a child's homework.

Just play your phone and be happy with it, but every now and then you still have to run in to take a glance, hands behind your back, staring for a while before leaving.

And Ji Ming also from the initial shock.

"Holy shit, how did this idiot come again? How can a big iron ball like you live like a ghost?"

Then came anger.

"Aren't you bored? If you have the guts, come down and spar! Today we'll directly fight to the death, let this book end here—can't you stop torturing me?"

Finally came helplessness.

"Ah, there's nothing to be done—who made me the greatest alchemist in history? My charm is like this; maybe even silicon-based life can't resist."

【Ah, right, right, right】

Amid the annoyance of having to glance sideways from time to time, time quickly came to evening; the narrow road gradually widened, and pedestrians by the roadside gradually increased, clearly they were about to reach another settlement.

Ji Ming opened the window again to look ahead, and saw that beyond a vast expanse of lush green grassland, at the earth's edge, a silver-white high wall suddenly appeared, together with the surrounding mountains that shot up abruptly, forming a massive shield that completely divided the land.

The accompanying knight, seeing the Divine Chosen curiously looking ahead, immediately smiled and explained.

"Divine Chosen, this is the Jueqiao Pass that has been passed down since the era of the elves, and it is the true southern border of the kingdom."

In theory, the Black Forest Territory is Hui Guang Kingdom's territory, but from the chaotic situation in Sunlight City one can see that the kingdom's influence here is about as much as Ji Ming's shame—almost nonexistent.

As for the fundamental cause of this situation, it is that the Black Forest Territory's geographical location and local circumstances are truly too special: the emperor is far away and the mountains are high, strongmen abound everywhere, and to its back lies the barbaric wilderness where barbarians rise up in all directions, with forces tangled and complicated to a deadly degree.

Therefore, to enforce orders here relies entirely on the lord's iron-fisted suppression; if placed in the hands of a lord with no ability, he might not even get to act before being bitten to death by the local tyrants.

But if this lord's ability is too great, able to clean up this mess and integrate it, relying on the kingdom's revenue from the barbaric front and rear… even if he himself does not want to rebel and carve out a fief to become king, he would likely be forcibly dragged onto the throne by his loyal subordinates, ending up wearing the imperial robe in a tragic fate (?).

So the former Sun King, after the new Black Forest Viscount was shot in the head by an arrow and died in his carriage, simply took this cursed land under the crown, making it a strategic buffer between the kingdom's south and the many barbarian tribes of the barbaric wilderness.

At first, some ambitious princes and princesses were enfeoffed here, hoping to make a name for themselves and later lay claim to the Sun King's throne, but this chaotic place could not be controlled by those used to comfort; they soon cried and shouted, wanting to return to the Royal Capital to become idle princes.

Moreover, after Hui Guang's long peace gradually caused it to lose actual control of many border regions, the Black Forest Territory, which already ignored orders, couldn't even collect taxes.

No money? Then get lost, broke!

Thus the Black Forest Territory, having lost its last bit of value, was abandoned like this, and finally wasn't even worthy of after‑dinner chatter, completely disappearing from the eyes of the pleasure‑loving Hui Guang royal family.

When the old city lord died decades ago, the kingdom's office stationed here fled at the wind, packing up and fleeing overnight, which formally announced that the last vestige of Hui Guang Kingdom's rule here also vanished.

If it weren't for the Sheng Guang Jiao Tang still existing here, even the ridiculous title 'Hui Guang territory' would probably have been stripped away.

But even if you were to build a matchbox house in Minecraft, you'd still need to put up a door—surely a mighty power can't lack even a bitter tea, so the duty of the kingdom's southern gate fell to the Jueqiao Pass.

Thus, the hereditary Jueqiao Duke has always been the Hui Guang royal family's most loyal supporters since ancient times, and maintaining friendly relations with the Jueqiao family is also one of the most important duties of every Sun King—no matter how foolish the king or how spoiled the royal offspring, they would not mess this up.

And as a top‑level fortification built with the whole nation's effort during the Holy Tree Kingdom's heyday to pacify the southern frontier, the Jueqiao Pass can be said to fulfill all of Ji Ming's fantasies of artificial wonders.

Compared to this complex defensive architecture with a lookout every five steps and a mage tower every ten steps, the earlier Sunlight City, which seemed somewhat decent, isn't even fit to be called a cow‑pat—at most it's a dried‑up cow pat that's been pissed on.

Gazing out, a patch of pure white lying on the verdant mountain ridge looks like the back of a cold beauty, yet it is bathed in a warm glow from the lamp named Sunset, the varying shadows and lines inviting imagination.

Ji Ming held his telescope, lost in thought for a long time, and couldn't help muttering.

"Wow, what a feeling…"