Chapter 397 - 173: "I am Chen Fan, from the Jiangbei Mortal Realm.

Chapter 397: Chapter 173: "I am Chen Fan, from the Jiangbei Mortal Realm.

On the somber No. 7 Defense Line, a scene like this had never occurred before.

Every face was brimming with unprecedented hope and excitement.

Although they had held the line during previous rainy seasons, it had always come at the cost of many lives. In those situations, even after the rains passed, the deaths of their comrades would shroud the entire No. 7 Defense Line in a somber, lifeless grief.

This time was different. This time, there were almost no casualties.

While every member of the No. 7 Defense Line was in a state of near euphoria,

Only Elder Qi stood frozen in place, staring up at the endless darkness and the torrential downpour that blotted out the sky. He felt a wave of suffocating despair wash over him completely.

He even found it difficult to breathe.

The next moment, his vision went black, and he collapsed, unconscious.

...

「The next day.」

Dawn broke, the rain stopped, and the sky was a vast, cloudless blue.

The downpour, which had lasted for thirty days, stopped the very moment dawn broke.

Only the lingering dampness in the air served as proof of the previous night’s torrential storm.

Chen Fan, wrapped in a cashmere coat, walked onto the City Wall of Cave No. 1. He gazed outside, gave a long, lazy stretch, and then turned to Shao Qiu with a smile.

"Let’s go. Come with me to the No. 7 Defense Line."

"The No. 7 Defense Line should have piled up plenty of Ghost Corpses during the rainy season. For this first shipment, we should go and collect it ourselves."

"Wang Kui, get a batch of Ghost Stones from the inventory and load them onto the High-speed Rail."

The rainy season was over.

He glanced at the calendar hanging on the City Wall.

Eternal Night Calendar, Year 381, early in the year.

It was a new year.

Only two years remained until the Undersea Ghost Tide made landfall.

"Time to go."

As the weather grew colder, Chen Fan, wrapped in his cashmere coat, sat aboard the Mortal Realm High-speed Rail. He traveled south along the tracks toward Jiangnan, heading for the No. 7 Defense Line.

He gazed at the scenery outside the window.

He hummed a nameless little tune to himself.

He was in a fairly good mood.

The Sparks Set the World Ablaze plan on the New Continent was proceeding in an orderly fashion. He would be able to collect a large batch of Ghost Stones from the No. 7 Defense Line. The Mortal Realm was developing at a steady, rapid pace.

’Everything is getting better.’

Whenever they passed through areas where Ghost Objects had damaged the Copper Pipes, Chen Fan would disembark from the High-speed Rail to make repairs. This only strengthened his resolve to find a way to better protect the pipes as soon as possible.

And so, with all the stops and starts, the High-speed Rail’s journey was much slower. Still, it arrived at the No. 7 Defense Line that afternoon. Stepping off the train, Chen Fan observed the bustling defense line for a moment, then broke into a smile.

It was noisy, but every face was brimming with excitement.

Clearly, not only had the No. 7 Defense Line held, but casualties must have been minimal.

And then there was the mountain of Ghost Corpses.

’They’re all mine.’

’I can exchange these for a lot of things at the Sacrificial Tower.’

Before long—

Elder Qi emerged from the noisy crowd with a few of his men and approached him.

"Elder Qi."

Chen Fan glanced around and said with a casual smile, "The rainy season’s over, and I’m here to collect. Looks like the No. 7 Defense Line did quite well this time around?"

"I..."

Elder Qi’s face was deathly pale and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked to be in terrible shape. For a man his age, his condition was so alarming one might worry he would drop dead at any second.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Chen Fan frowned slightly. "Did you catch a chill during the rainy season?"

’Elder Qi looks so terrible, he almost resembles a Fake Human Ghost,’ Chen Fan thought. ’Back in Mortal City, he’d be a prime candidate for investigation.’

"I..."

Elder Qi took a deep breath. After waving his men away, he stood before Chen Fan alone, his voice trembling with despair and indignation.

"Sir, everyone at the No. 7 Defense Line is grateful for your support."

"But—"

"The Eternal Night Hall has abandoned the No. 7 Defense Line. They’ve established a new line of defense at the Yellow Springs Entrance Canyon. In two years, countless Ghost Tides will make landfall from the Jiangbei Sea Bottom."

"The Eternal Night Hall doesn’t have the strength to establish a new defense line in Jiangbei."

"The Yellow Springs Entrance Canyon is on the easternmost edge of the Guanxi Plain, which is the true coastline of the Eternal Night Continent. Our Four Areas Jiangbei, along with the two areas of Guandong, are just a large island jutting out from the mainland."

"I’m telling you this so you can leave as soon as possible, Sir. I won’t be going. I can’t watch so many people die for nothing. I want... to see them through to the end."

After saying this, Elder Qi suddenly seemed in much better spirits. A flash of resolve appeared in his eyes.

"Sir."

"For all you’ve done these past days, I am truly grateful."

"..."

Chen Fan’s brow furrowed. He understood now. The Eternal Night Hall had no intention of building a defense line in Jiangbei. ’They don’t even have the Ghost Stones to build a Jiangbei Defense Line?’

"Is the Eternal Night Frontline in that much of a crisis?"

"Yes. The Eternal Night Frontline lost two defense lines. A lot of people died."

"Let me see..."

Chen Fan pulled the Ghost Map from his coat and looked at it. On the far eastern edge of the Guanxi Plain, there was a continuous mountain range with a large gap. That gap was the Yellow Springs Entrance Canyon.

After a moment, he now had a rough grasp of the situation. He looked at Elder Qi with a sigh. "It’s alright. Don’t panic."

"Jiangbei has a defense line."

"A 170-kilometer-long Jiangbei Defense Line is sitting safe and sound in Jiangbei right now. The No. 7 Defense Line will not fall, and the Jiangbei Defense Line will not fall."

"We’re all going to live."

"..."

Elder Qi stood stunned, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. ’How could Jiangbei possibly have a defense line?’ he wondered. ’In the past, Jiangbei relied entirely on the aura left behind by that one person to deter the undersea Ghost Objects. Where would a defense line come from?’

’The Eternal Night Hall wouldn’t lie to me about something like this.’

’Besides, they’ve lost two front lines. The Eternal Night Hall truly doesn’t have enough resources to build a new one. So where did this defense line come from?’

But in the next moment—

A thought struck him like a bolt of lightning. He suddenly realized something, and his lips began to tremble as he stared at the man before him in disbelief.

’Could it be...’

"You... You..."

Chen Fan smiled. "We’ve known each other for so long, and I’ve forgotten to properly introduce myself."

"My name is Chen Fan."

"I am from the Jiangbei Mortal Realm, and I have been guarding Jiangbei for several years now."

"The Jiangbei that the Eternal Night Hall is powerless to defend..."

"...My Mortal Realm will defend it."