Chapter 580: Darkness, or Light?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong was rarely ever truly angry, but this time he felt p*ssed off. The Yu Family! His expression was still as cold as before, but his eyes betrayed the deep apathy that he felt towards his enemy. He lifted his head and looked towards a nearby corner.

"To think that Yu Ze was capable of such a powerful attack just before his death. As expected from the Yu Family's ace. It's a pity …" An old man stepped out from the corner. He had white hair and wrinkles all over his face. Despite his obvious aging, his eyes were still sharp.

Ye Chong coldly studied his opponent. He could sense an aura from this old man that was similar to the one he found on Huang Baiyi. Huang Baiyi had a very unique aura that Ye Chong remembered very well.

The old man took a long look at Ye Chong and solemnly said, "No need to be nervous, Master Ye. I am Yan Zhongli. As a representative of Maroon City's Yan Family, I would like to offer a deal with Master Ye."

Ye Chong took a glance at Jin Weidong. Jin Weidong whispered by his ear, "The Yan Family is the second largest aristocratic family in Maroon City, second only to the Yu Family, although they have always kept a lower profile. Yan Zhongli is one of the famous elders of the Yan Family. His strength is unknown." Jin Weidong had a close shave with death today. If Ye Chong had not blocked that fatal piece of parapsychic energy towards him, he would have died for sure. Nevertheless, he was still injured. His left shoulder was punctured, and he looked very pale.

Ye Chong returned his attention to the old man. He was not afraid of him. The old man had an aura similar to Huang Baiyi, but he was still lacking compared to the mentalist.

"Our Family would like to discuss about the 50 thousand gravstones that Master Ye was going to sell to the Yu Family. Our Family would like to establish a long-term business relationship with Master Ye." The old man was neither haughty nor humble. He seemed to be very capable in these matters.

"As for the terms of the arrangement, Master Ye will not have to worry. We will follow the terms that you have agreed with the Yu Family. What do you think?"

Ye Chong looked at the old man and asked about something else, "Have you started attacking the Yu Family?"

The old man did not look uncomfortable by his inquiry. "Master Ye reads the situation well. The Yu Family is wealthy, but they do not have a strong foundation. In fact, they had allocated almost all their best people in order to secure Master Ye. We expected Master Ye to have contingencies against this situation, but we did not expect them to be so overbearing. As such, we had to modify our plans. I believe the Yu Family should be taken down by now." The old man spoke with great confidence.

Ye Chong felt his heart went cold. Few people knew about the business between him and the Yu Family. That the Yan Family could know so much meant that they had a spy deeply embedded within the Yu Family. The Yan Family had plans, and the patience to carry these plans. They responded accordingly when things went south for their enemy. The Yan Family was truly powerful! Ye Chong's anger vanished quickly. He knew that with the Yan Family's capability, the Yu Family would be thoroughly wiped out.

Ye Chong took a long look at the old man, and then expressionlessly said, "Alright. The deal will be Ganming City." Ye Chong helped his fellow injured shooters up and led them away.

"We will be there." The old man's reply came from far behind him.

Ye Chong did not delay their departure. They left Maroon City as soon as possible. Maroon City was already in chaos, but the Yan Family had started bringing back order to the city. "It is over. The Yu Family is over." Ye Chong thought to himself. He brought everyone out of the city without hesitation.

Back in the wilderness, the mechs that protected Ye Chong from the sky came down and landed. Ye Chong and the shooters went on the mechs and flew back to their temporary camp outside Ganming City.

They had just got out of a pinch, and the shooters were still shaken from their experience. Since they received treatment in time, they were now firmly towards recovery. Sha Ya was still unconscious, but Ye Chong did not worry to much. Xuan Ning told him that it was normal.

All the medication in their base came from Ye Chong. The medication he prepared via alchemy was very effective. The students and shooters all loved them.

The Yan Family was highly efficient. Three days later, they arrived in Ganming City with all the supplies they promised.

As a sign of goodwill, they offered an additional 20 percent of goods at no charge. Ye Chong was relieved to see all the supplies they got. There was also a handsome young man among the Yan Family's representatives.

Yan Zhongli smiled and made the introductions. "This is Yan Huan, of the Yan Family. I am too old to be travelling frequently. Yan Huan will be our point of contact for our business in future. Please take care of him, Master Ye."

Yan Huan bowed respectfully to Ye Chong. He was informed by the head of the family beforehand that Master Ye was not to be offended.

The exchanged proceeded quickly. Since there was simply too much supplies, Ye Chong could not move them all at once. Thus, Yan Huan rented almost all the warehouses in Ganming City for Ye Chong to store his supplies. The lease was effective for three years, for Yan Huan was a shrewd businessman.

Jin Weidong represented Ye Chong in the business side of things. He acted diligently, prioritizing the interest of the whole over individual interests. He was also more familiar with Northern Lands.

Yan Huan proposed a new deal to Ye Chong through Jin Weidong. They would like to buy his cannon arrays, or similar technologies.

Ye Chong agreed without hesitation. He now had the means to ma.s.s produce items. If he did not put his production line to good use, it would only be a waste of s.p.a.ce. Besides, Ye Chong found it easier to use metal alloys than wooden material to build the cannon arrays.

However, Ye Chong asked for something else in return. He wanted supplies, but also shooters, and Level 6 shooters in particular! Jin Weidong thought it was odd. What did his master want shooters for? In Darkniss, mech pilots were more useful than shooters. Even Level 7 and 8 shooters like them had limited power in Darkniss. In this new deal, it seemed that his master was asking for at least a few hundred Level 6 shooters. They all knew that their master was a strange man, but everything he did was for a reason. This request, however, was a mystery to them.

The Yan Family had a wide influence in their society. They agreed readily to the terms.

When Ye Chong and his people prepared for their return, all the Spiders were jam packed with supplies. Even Ye Chong's dimension keystone was filled to the brim. His dimension keystone had reached its storage limit for the first time. Even so, half of the supplies were still in the warehouses in Ganming City.

After dealing with the matter, Ye Chong let Jin Weidong and a few men stay back to look after the remaining supplies. He then led the rest of the army back to their stronghold in Darkniss.

The trip back was uneventful. Ye Chong was happy with the fruits of their labor. They obtained the goods, and even found a long-term business partner. This would give them time to store enough supplies, especially energy crystals.

When they arrived at their stronghold, Sha Ya woke up. She had reached Level 9. Ye Chong was not surprised, but he offered his congratulations anyhow.

…

Rui Bing and her two companions continued their journey. She and Sang Kan were relieved to find that Aried was getting better already.

They walked for a long time, climbing an endless chain of mountain ridges. The further they went, the darker the surroundings. Daytime turned shorter, while nighttime stretched on longer.

Today, they reached total darkness. Darkness was always intimidating, but that was only true for Aried. Both Rui Bing and Sang Kan were strong-minded people who would not be fazed by darkness.

They continued their advance, hoping against hope. They did not know what laid ahead, but one thing was for sure - all the places they had been were suitable for human life.

Aried continued to think about how they could return to their world.

"We need to find a spatial window. The spatial dimension here is unstable. There must be another spatial window, somewhere. As long as we find that spatial window, our chances of returning will be improved." Aried said carefully.

"By how much?" Sang Kan asked.

Aried did not tone things down for his student the way he would for Rui Bing. He glared at Sang Kan and said, "From one in a hundred million to one in ten million."

Even Rui Bing was a little disappointed by the answer.

Aried noticed her disappointment. He hesitated for a while, and then continued, "I suspect that this is actually a world that leads to many others."

Both Rui Bing and Sang Kan looked to Aried.

Aried continued carefully, "Of course, it's just a hypothesis of mine. Hmm, a hypothesis that is not yet proven. The spatial dimension in this world must be lower than other worlds, that's why the spatial windows came to be."

Abruptly, Aried went off tangent. "We found red-tailed beasts here, right?"

Sang Kan nodded in puzzlement. "Yes. What's that got to do with this?"

"You remember how the red-tailed beasts first appeared. They came through spatial windows. So, I think that this is very likely the homeworld of the red-tailed beasts. They were able to reach the He Yue Galaxy through spatial windows. I don't know how many packs of red-tailed beasts there are now. Err, let's call them hordes. How many tribes of red-tailed beasts do we have in the He Yue Galaxy?"

"Seven. Six, now." Sang Kan's reply came quickly. He followed the topic closely.

"Right, there are six now." Aried continued. "This means that there are at least six spatial windows that lead to the He Yue Galaxy. Besides, if those are naturally occurring spatial windows, and if they were disrupted by interference, then they will reappear again after some period of time."

Rui Bing broke her silence and asked, "How long will that be?"

"10 years, 20 years, it's hard to say," Aried replied without much commitment.

Even so, his words were encouraging to Rui Bing and Sang Kan, who were both starting to tire from their journey. There were six gateways to the He Yue Galaxy alone. This was good news indeed.

As they entered this dark territory, the terrain became flat, and the darkness loomed ever more intimidatingly. However, Sang Kan found the place to be very similar to the Sang Family Village. With the exception of the high gravity zones, this place was too much like the Sang Family Village. Sang Kan also made himself some primitive weapons that were typical of the Sang Tribe. The weapons were deadly tools in Sang Kan's hands, for he was almost physically comparable to a Jie expert.

What awaited them ahead? Would it be darkness, or light?

…

The stronghold was still as organized as Ye Chong left it. The students were now carrying their battle practices deeper and deeper into Darkniss. The gateway to Western Frost was found, but Ye Chong did not plan to make use of it in the near future. He now had enough resources to last him awhile.

The metal alloy cannon arrays were built quickly. Not much technical skill was required to build this weapon. The alloy cannon arrays were exchanged for an endless stream of supplies. The stronghold warehouse was almost full. Expansion works for the warehouse continued every day.

Aside from the supplies, they also had new shooters. Who knew how the Yan Family got their hands on them? Ye Chong was certain that there must be some informants of the Yan Family mixed inside, but what did it matter? They would not understand his ambitions.

The shooters were all at least Level 6, and obviously military. That was exactly what Ye Chong wanted.

Ye Chong built two more strongholds, one at each of the entrances to Western Frost and Northern Lands. Each stronghold was manned with 500 mech pilots. He must protect himself with his own men.

After completing these two strongholds, Ye Chong relinquished his conservative approach and began to push his way deeper into Darkniss. He took control of the few places he knew to be rich in metal ores. He also visited Mei Wu's dwelling, but did not find her there. Hence, Ye Chong had to bring the Spider back to his stronghold.

Ye Chong was not aware that his actions had thrown the natural territories of Darkniss's inhabitants into disarray. Animals moved in hordes to the inner parts of Darkniss. They were not as strong as the animals in the inner parts, but they made up for it in numbers. The millennia old boundaries in Darkniss were disrupted. A new era of chaos was imminent.

Ye Chong did not have the time to notice the movements of these wild animals. He now had enough resources in his hands. Besides the metal ore sites that Mei Wu brought him to, he also located a few more places rich in metal ores.

This meant that the plan he had in mind could finally be set in motion.

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