Chapter 296 - 158: This Meat Was Found by the Mortal Realm, and Only the Mortal Realm Can Eat It

Chapter 296: Chapter 158: This Meat Was Found by the Mortal Realm, and Only the Mortal Realm Can Eat It

The Mortal Realm Undersea Tunnel.

A High-speed Rail train, fully loaded with resources and members of the Mortal Realm Commerce Pavilion, was hurtling forward through the pitch-black tunnel.

There was no scenery on either side.

No source of light.

All they could vaguely make out through the windows was the dark, elliptical tunnel wall.

The members of the Mortal Realm Commerce Pavilion sat inside the High-speed Rail, a mixture of apprehension, fear, excitement, and anticipation churning within them. They didn’t know the specific details of this mission, only that they were going to explore a new place.

It was a major assignment.

The Domain Lord’s disappearance these past few months had been in preparation for this very mission.

Now that the preparations were complete, it was their turn to take the stage.

The Mortal Realm High-speed Rail originally had no seats. It was based on the prototype of the Max Level Suspended Basket, so naturally, it wasn’t designed with seating. However, for some trains dedicated to serving the Mortal Realm, the Logistics Pavilion had added seats.

This made the ride more comfortable.

After all, the distance from the Mortal Realm to Hope Island was over a thousand kilometers, a journey of four hours.

If they had to stand for the entire journey, it would have been difficult to get to work immediately after arriving.

"A bunch of kids."

Inside the High-speed Rail, Zhang Damao, sitting beside Wang Mazi, glanced at the anxious and excited Commerce Pavilion members around them. He grinned and cursed with a laugh, "This mission isn’t that dangerous, much easier than our last one. *That* was a real life-or-death job."

Zhang Damao was a veteran of the Commerce Pavilion.

He had followed Wang Mazi through the forbidden death zone, the Thunderstorm Sea Realm, discovered the New Continent, and returned triumphant.

The Commerce Pavilion had since expanded and now numbered over seventy people.

The eleven of them who had originally survived with Wang Mazi had all been given minor official posts, becoming team leaders with a few people under their command. Within the Mortal Realm, the members of their Commerce Pavilion had the fastest promotions.

They had grown into their roles.

To be honest, he was a little nervous himself. After all, he didn’t know what the mission was either, only that the Pavilion Master had told them the danger level wasn’t high. But the moment he remembered he was an officer now, he couldn’t help but talk tough, refusing to show any weakness.

"Brother Mao."

A Commerce Pavilion member from his team, sitting nearby, asked nervously, "Do you know where this Undersea Tunnel leads? It feels like the train has been running for a long time. If we were on the Jiangbei Wilderness, we’d almost be at the Jiangbei Bridge by now, about to cross into Jiangnan."

Zhang Damao laughed, a bit wistful.

"This Undersea Tunnel is way longer than Route One. Settle in, we still have a long way to go."

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"You’d best use this time to eat and drink what you can. Get a full stomach, then get some sleep and build up your strength. When we get there, if we run into danger, the slowest one to run dies."

"This is also why when we Commerce Pavilion members train in Martial Arts at the Yunling Pavilion, we always prioritize things like Body Techniques."

"We don’t need to kill enemies."

"We just need to be fast enough to run away."

"Understood."

The Commerce Pavilion member took a deep breath, taking the words to heart. He pulled some dry rations from his pocket and began to chew quickly. He was originally from the Logistics Pavilion and had later requested a transfer to the Commerce Pavilion.

His superiors had approved the change.

The Logistics Pavilion was actually extremely safe.

The places they went were all areas that Ghost Objects would never infest. To put it bluntly, the Logistics Pavilion had the third-lowest mortality rate of any department in the Mortal Realm. It couldn’t be considered the absolute lowest, because if a war broke out, it would still be somewhat dangerous for its members to transport resources to the front lines.

But—

The Commerce Pavilion.

Everyone knew it was a department with an extremely high mortality rate.

The Commerce Pavilions of other factions were mainly responsible for business.

But the Mortal Realm’s Commerce Pavilion was mainly responsible for exploration.

Exploration often meant immense opportunity and immense danger. It was a department where one could earn great merit in an instant, or die just as quickly. The Logistics Pavilion was safe, but it offered no chance to achieve glory.

His sole reason for requesting to join the Commerce Pavilion was that he wanted to earn merit, to get a promotion and a raise.

It was simple. Before, there was no chance to climb the ladder. His fate had been sealed at birth. All he could do was quietly scrape by, praying he would survive the next rainy season. Now that he had an opportunity, he wanted to give it a shot.

He wanted to see how far he could go.

"..."

Standing at the front of the train car and gazing into the dark depths of the tunnel ahead, Wang Mazi listened to the conversations of his subordinates behind him. A smile touched his eyes, but he didn’t turn to join in. He thought back to the rainy season, when he had followed Wang Kui to the Jiangbei Chen Family’s Station 37 and met the Domain Lord.

He truly hadn’t known, back then, that his destiny would change at that very moment.

At the time, all he had been thinking about was whether those few Arrow Towers could protect them through the rainy season. He had never imagined a day like this would come.

This expedition to the New Continent.

This monumental task, one that would decide the future direction of the Mortal Realm, was being personally managed by him, Wang Mazi!

This level of trust... was beyond words.

...

「The New Continent」

On the beach, the temporary city that Chen Fan had named "New Continent Base One" was emitting a faint yellow glow in the night.

The inner city was enclosed by a Level 6 City Wall, ten meters long on each side.

The outer city was enclosed by a Level 3 City Wall, a kilometer long on each side.

And at the four corners of the outer city, he had placed a Ghost Fire in each, ensuring the attack range of the Godslaying Cannons on the City Wall could be extended to its maximum potential.

An eternal night had descended upon this slaughtered New Continent. Endless darkness shrouded the entire land, and only this one city glowed with a tenacious, eggshell-yellow light.