Chapter 266 - 153: "I, Zhang Damao, Have Discovered the New Continent.

Chapter 266: Chapter 153: "I, Zhang Damao, Have Discovered the New Continent.

The moment the braised stew entered his mouth.

The man froze in place. A long moment passed before he glanced at the sign hanging nearby—"Jiangbei Braised Master." Four words surfaced in his mind: ’Worthy of the name!’

In his entire life... he had never eaten a braised stew this delicious.

It was an indescribable flavor, as exhilarating as having one’s prostate prodded with a stick.

"Delicious, isn’t it?"

Zhao Shengping grinned. "My braised stew is the best. In all of Jiangbei—or you could even say in all the Four Areas Jiangbei—no one makes it better than me."

The man nodded blankly, at a complete loss for words. He was completely intoxicated by the flavor exploding in his mouth. After quickly finishing the stew in his hands, he hurriedly pulled two Ghost Stones from his clothes. "Give me another one. I want to take it home for my family to try."

"You got it, no problem!"

Zhao Shengping cheerfully agreed. The Ghost Stones his stall earned were handed over directly to the Mortal Realm; he didn’t pocket a single one. But he didn’t mind. It wasn’t as if he was short on Ghost Stones anyway. What he cared about more was the joy of making the braised stew and the happiness that came from people acknowledging his cooking.

Everyone has a hobby in their lifetime.

If someone claimed to have no hobbies, it wasn’t because they truly lacked them. It was because life had beaten them down, smoothing away their rough edges until all they could think about was how to earn a few Ghost Stones to survive the next Ghost Tide. This was perfectly normal, something he could completely understand.

His hobby was making braised stew.

Soon, a long line formed in front of the braised stew stall. Many of the people arriving by the cartload from Ping’an City stopped to get in line.

...

Similar scenes were happening in various places throughout the Mortal Realm.

The commotion caused by the first day of operation for Mortal Realm High-speed Rail Line 1 was huge.

It didn’t just affect the various factions; it also had a significant impact on the common people of Jiangnan.

"Young Master."

Chen Fan had already returned to Mortal City. Standing atop the City Wall, he gazed down at the bustling scene below with a smile in his eyes.

Lame Monkey, however, stood to the side, his voice laced with concern. "Young Master, what does this mean for our Silk Road?"

"Before, the journey was long, so it was inconvenient for people from other factions to come to Jiangbei, buy our Skeleton Horses, and take them back to their own territories to sell for a profit."

"But now that the High-speed Rail is running, travel is extremely convenient. Those people can just take the train to the Mortal Realm themselves to buy Skeleton Horses and transport them back."

"Aside from the fare, paying a little extra for high-speed rail freight won’t cost them much. Won’t this disrupt our Silk Road plan?"

"It won’t."

Chen Fan smiled and spoke softly. "Don’t be anxious. Let’s just let the bullets fly for a bit. Besides, haven’t the Skeleton Horses always been wholesale only, not retail?"

His plan was simple: make the pie bigger.

In four years, he would need at least three hundred million Ghost Stones. Obtaining that many was no small feat.

He could, of course, earn Ghost Stones from Jiangnan and the Four Areas Jiangbei, but there was a limit to the wealth in those places.

He had to first find a way to make the pie bigger, allowing others to acquire more Ghost Stones. Only then could he earn more Ghost Stones himself.

For instance, it was a simple concept. The primary source of Ghost Stones was Ghost Objects, but killing them outside of the rainy season was no simple task. It would mean walking into the Eternal Night, which was impossible. The only other method left was setting traps.

Previously, when an Architect was invited to another region to construct a building,

travel was extremely inconvenient.

Now, the High-speed Rail made things much more convenient. The overall defenses of the Four Areas Jiangbei would improve as a result. Furthermore, if they copied the Jiangnan Shui Family and used something to attract Ghost Objects, they could get Ghost Objects to attack the Ghost Fire even outside the rainy season.

This would allow the Four Areas Jiangbei to produce more Ghost Stones.

This would get more Ghost Stones circulating in the market, all of which would eventually flow into his pockets. He was the final destination; once a Ghost Stone entered his coffers, it was very unlikely to leave.

Yes.

During the purge of the Jiangnan Shui Family, they had learned the family’s secret of how they had framed the other two major families during the rainy season.

He already considered the Four Areas Jiangbei as Mortal Realm Territory.

Once the Four Areas Jiangbei were fully developed, the Mortal Realm would be in a position to devour the "pie" that was the Guanxi Plain.

"..."

He turned and gazed out toward the distant seashore, where many newcomers from Ping’an City were gathered. His eyes scanned the horizon as the damp sea breeze washed over his face. He wondered about Wang Mazi’s current situation.

He only knew that the man wasn’t dead yet.

Wang Mazi’s Life Token had not yet shattered.

Anything else was a mystery.

’It’s been over ten days now. Is he still drifting at sea, or has he found something new?’

...

The Mortal Realm was now developing extremely fast.

It was changing dramatically almost every day.

And in stark contrast...

"What the fuck is this goddamn thing!!!"

Wang Mazi stood on the deck, saber in his left hand, his right arm wrapped tightly around the mast. He roared, his face a mask of ferocity, "Hard to port! Evade! Evade!!!"

It was not yet dark.

But vast, dark clouds hung overhead, threatening to crash down at any moment and plunging them into an infinite darkness.

Gale-force winds and torrential rain battered them relentlessly.

The Sea Ship beneath them was not small, but on these seas, it was like a tiny skiff, in danger of being swallowed by the waves at any moment.

When they set out, they had three Sea Ships.

But now there was only one.

On the ninth day of their voyage, they were attacked by Ghost Objects in the night. Two Sea Ships were destroyed. It was only thanks to his quick command that they’d survived. He had them abandon the two vessels, which were entangled in the tentacles of some octopus-like Ghost Objects, and pull the surviving crew members onto his own ship, allowing them to narrowly escape.