Chapter 286 - 156: The 97-Kilometer-Long No. 7 Defense Line

Chapter 286: Chapter 156: The 97-Kilometer-Long No. 7 Defense Line

"Don’t worry."

Chen Fan said, "I’m not going to make you pay for it. The Mortal Realm will cover the cost. From now on, whenever you need that braised stew, just go to Zhao Shengping. Tell him I gave special approval for the Beast Pavilion."

Hey Hey’s eyes filled with excitement. It was clearly intrigued by the "Beast Pavilion" Chen Fan had mentioned.

After exploring for about an hour, Chen Fan and the others returned to the high-speed rail and began their journey back to the Mortal Realm.

Aside from the Sea Embryo and Mountain Embryo, they found no other special Heavenly and Earthly Treasures. The majority were Monkey Head Fruits, along with a small quantity of other treasures, all of which were Green Level. Not a single one was Yellow Level; their levels were not high.

However, you couldn’t judge Heavenly and Earthly Treasures by their level alone.

The Mountain Remains Embryo, for instance, was a Green Level Exotic Treasure, but its importance to the Mortal Realm was immense. Without it, the Undersea Tunnel and the high-speed rail would have been nearly impossible to construct.

They didn’t carry many Monkey Head Fruits on their return trip; a group their size couldn’t have carried much anyway.

The original plan had been to mobilize some Mortal Realm Members to harvest the Monkey Head Fruits, but that was now canceled. There was no need for them; they would just use the island’s native monkeys.

These monkeys harvested the Monkey Head Fruits quickly and with almost no damage. Most importantly, they didn’t need to rest and required no wages—just a little braised stew. They were, in short, an incredibly cheap and perfect labor force.

Moreover, they weren’t just useful for harvesting Monkey Head Fruits. When they eventually reached the New Continent, these monkeys would be experts at gathering Ghost Stones.

With several hundred monkeys, the gathering speed would be anything but slow.

Besides, these Exotic Beasts weren’t interested in Ghost Stones, so he didn’t have to worry about them hoarding any. If anything, he was more concerned they might try to hoard the braised stew.

The unexpected monkey crisis had indirectly solved one of his major problems. ’Not bad at all,’ he thought.

They were already on their way back, while the monkeys were still busy harvesting Monkey Head Fruits, excitedly anticipating their return the next day with a fresh, hot, delicious batch of braised stew.

The journey was long, and by the time they arrived back in the Mortal Realm, night had already fallen.

The high-speed rail didn’t stop. After leaving the Port, it sliced straight through the darkness and into the Mortal Realm.

At night, enveloped by the Ghost Fire, the high-speed rail corridor looked like a tunnel of eternal night glowing with a yellow light. It was laid across the Jiangbei Wilderness like the very veins of the Mortal Realm, a sight of stark beauty.

Just then, Xiaoyu, who had received the news much earlier and was already prepared, walked out of the Camp Hall. He was holding the Identity Token for the Beast Pavilion Master—a specially made one.

It was designed to fit perfectly into the Scale Armor on Hey Hey’s front claws. When it needed to be stored, it could be swallowed. Otherwise, it could remain slotted in the armor.

Hey Hey was visibly excited, hugging the Token and thumping its tail against the ground repeatedly.

Chen Fan watched Hey Hey thumping its tail on the ground and couldn’t help but chuckle.

"I now formally appoint Hey Hey: The Mortal Realm shall establish the Beast Pavilion, and Hey Hey will serve as its Master, with authority over all Exotic Beasts within the realm."

"..."

Standing off to the side, Wang Mazi shot Hey Hey a strange look. He and the creature got along well, but he never imagined that Hey Hey would one day be his equal in rank. Now, Hey Hey was a bona fide Beast Pavilion Master, on the exact same level as him.

In other words...

From now on, when he saw Hey Hey, he couldn’t just call it "Hey Hey" anymore—not if he wanted to be formal.

He would have to address it as Pavilion Master Hey.

...

「The next morning.」

Chen Fan packed a few things, preparing for a long journey. He had to continue construction on the Undersea Tunnel. Only the first phase was complete, connecting to the island. There was still a long way to go to reach the New Continent.

These Heavenly and Earthly Treasures were very valuable to the Mortal Realm.

But unlocking their true potential required a sufficient supply of Ghost Stones.

The journey from the island to the Mortal Realm was quite long, and a round trip was time-consuming. Therefore, he decided he would need to live on the island for a while, setting up a simple camp so he and Hey Hey could continue digging the Undersea Tunnel.

This would save them the time spent traveling back and forth every day.

「Before he left.」

Lame Monkey would go with him.

Wang Kui was in charge of defending their base.

"Domain Lord."

Wang Kui asked hesitantly, "Should we postpone the ’Mortal Realm Communication’ project for a while?"

"Yes."

Chen Fan nodded slightly. "There’s no rush on that for now. If we harvest enough Ghost Stones on the New Continent, we might not announce Mortal Realm Communication publicly. It will become a tool exclusive to our realm."

"If there’s any urgent news,"

"you can just send me a sound transmission."

That’s right.

He had once said that if someone could actually send a message from Hope Island back to the Mortal Realm, he would have to admit they were incredible. Hope Island was a full thousand kilometers from the Eternal Night Continent. At such a great distance, ordinary Sound Transmission Talismans were completely useless.

But he... could.

The Mortal Realm had a Signal Tower.

The tower, of course, couldn’t be placed on the sea’s surface, as it was a structure that required solid ground. But since Hey Hey could dig a tunnel under the seabed, excavating a large pit at a specific Node to install the Signal Tower was naturally no problem at all.

In fact, a Signal Tower had already been placed in the middle section of the tunnel to the island.

Messages between Hope Island and the Mortal Realm could be transmitted instantly.

Even if there were any unforeseen incidents, he would receive the news immediately and be able to rush back.