Chapter 269 - 153: "I, Zhang Damao, Discovered the New Continent.

Chapter 269: Chapter 153: "I, Zhang Damao, Discovered the New Continent.

"I’m with you."

"Me too."

The others exchanged glances, then gritted their teeth and stepped forward.

Their flagging morale, which had been on the verge of collapse, solidified once more.

"Good!"

Wang Mazi’s eyes were slightly red as he smiled. "Gather some Ghost Stones and load them into the ship. We’re going to bypass the Thunderstorm Sea Realm and head home!"

「And just then.」

The subordinate who had fainted in his arms woke up—or perhaps he had been awake for a while. He wasn’t having a hysterical breakdown anymore, just remaining silent for a long time before speaking in a low voice, "Pavilion Master, even if we bring the news back..."

"...how is the Domain Lord going to mine these Ghost Stones?"

"The Domain Lord will have a way."

Wang Mazi said with a smile, "Trust the Domain Lord. That’s not for us to worry about. Our job is to bring the Ghost Map and the information back."

...

A large quantity of Ghost Stones were collected and moved into the ship’s cabin.

These were the Ghost Stones for their return journey.

Four or five men with saws cut down trees on the island, turning them into wooden boards to patch up the Sea Ship.

Wang Mazi walked into the ruins of a building alone.

On a collapsed, ruined wall,

he saw...

...some markings.

A dense cluster of 371 marks in total.

The first 370 were check marks, meaning the night had passed safely.

Only the last one was a cross.

It meant a Ghost Tide was attacking that night.

The last mark was carved in a great hurry. After that, no new marks were added.

Wang Mazi stood there, staring at the marks on the wall, and his eyes suddenly grew moist. After a long moment, he unexpectedly started to laugh.

He remembered the rainy season.

Zhou Mo used to do the same thing every night. As long as he survived another day, he would carve a mark on a Wooden Board.

But they had been luckier.

Their board was filled with check marks.

They survived the rainy season.

「Finally.」

After resting on the island for a night, they set sail at dawn the next day. The Sea Ship traveled along the edge of the Thunderstorm Sea Realm for nearly thirty days.

The Thunderstorm Sea Realm seemed to have no end.

It was like an insurmountable chasm.

There was no way for them to go around this stretch of the Thunderstorm Sea Realm.

Their supply of Ghost Stones in the ship cabin couldn’t afford any more waste.

"Everyone."

Wang Mazi stood on the deck. He first looked to his left, at the Sea Realm shrouded in black clouds and flashing with lightning, then turned to the men on deck looking up at him. The fear in their eyes was gone.

They knew there was no retreat now.

Their eyes were filled with a mix of resilience and madness.

After a brief pause, he broke into a wide grin.

"Before I joined the Mortal Realm..."

"...I, Wang Mazi, was just like all of you. I’d never done anything earth-shattering. When the Logistics Pavilion had me fill out my file, I put ’None’ in the ’Greatest Accomplishments’ section."

"But after today—"

"—as long as we make it back alive."

"As long as we bring the news back alive."

"It’ll be worth it even if we die. This will be the greatest thing we’ve ever done in our lives."

"Today!"

"This isn’t just my moment to shine."

"It’s a moment for all of you to shine, too."

"If we return alive, we will share all future glory together."

"But if fate is cruel and this is a one-way trip, then let this sea be our tomb, where we are all buried together!"

Wang Mazi took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across every man’s face. With a savage expression, he raised his Big Saber and roared!

"Hard to port!"

"Set course for home!"

「The next moment.」

The Sea Ship slowly turned. Like a broken blade returning to its sheath, it pressed forward into the Thunderstorm Sea Realm with indomitable will!

Dark clouds filled the sky.

The sea was like churning ink, with not a trace of azure to be seen.

Countless waves began to rage as the Sea Ship approached, boiling and battering against the hull. The light faded to darkness, but the Sea Ship didn’t slow in the slightest.

Instead, it gradually accelerated, charging into the Thunderstorm Sea Realm with the resolve to face death.

Endless Ghost Objects surged beneath the tide.

But they didn’t attack the Sea Ship.

Looking closely, one would see that the Ghost Objects in this area were struggling in agony, like crabs being boiled in water.

...

Forty days had passed since the completion of "Mortal Realm Line 1."

「In those forty days.」

Chen Fan had been running nonstop. After consuming 4,380,000 Ghost Stones, in addition to "Mortal Realm Line 1," he had also built "Mortal Realm Line 2," "Mortal Realm Line 3," and "Mortal Realm Line 4."

They spread across...

...the four regions: Jiangbei, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Jiangnan.

It could be said...

...that transportation between these four regions was now incredibly fast.

「On this day,」

all the High-speed Rail projects were officially completed and put into operation. The four High-speed Rail lines, like a network of blood vessels, spanned the Four Areas of Jiangbei, significantly accelerating travel and communication between them.

「And during these days,」

he had also built seven Signal Towers, ensuring the range of the Sound Transmission Talismans could cover every corner of the Four Areas of Jiangbei.

「Tomorrow.」

Tomorrow was the day that Mortal Realm Communication would be officially launched. The Logistics Pavilion had been working overtime day and night to create a large batch of Sound Transmission Talismans, and had also recruited many new contract members.

In addition to Level 1 Members and Level 2 Members, the Mortal Realm had also recruited over a thousand contract members recently.

Contract members were responsible for simpler tasks.

Their monthly salary was lower.

Only 20 Ghost Stones a month.

It was much lower than a Level 1 Member’s salary, but it still attracted countless people. After all, even the contract members’ monthly salary was much higher than what they could earn at their current jobs. Moreover, if they performed well, they had a chance to become official members.

If they could become an official Level 1 Member, their monthly salary would increase to 100 Ghost Stones.

The Mortal Realm of today...

...with over a thousand contract personnel, more than two hundred official members, and a dozen core members, had already become a large-scale faction with a massive population.

Every month, the expenditure on monthly salaries alone was around 70,000 Ghost Stones.

This was a monthly salary distribution that other factions were completely incapable of affording.