Castle of Black Iron

When Zhang Tie woke up in the attic on the third floor of Wild Home the next morning, he found that all the guests in the inn had disappeared.

After cleaning himself up, Zhang Tie ate breakfast in the dining room of the bar on the first floor as he looked around. Even though it was early in the morning, he was the only one left in the whole dining room. He could only see empty tables around him.

Actually, since those pioneers heard about the news on Ice and Snow Wilderness, some of them had already started to leave; most of them had already gone before dawn. Zhang Tie was the only ’lazy’ guy left in the inn at the moment.

Millie, the female waiter of the inn served him their brand dish pizza with oyster as she asked, ”Young man, you are special; they’ve long gone, are you still waiting for your partners?”

Millie was plump and looked quite pretty. She had big, watery eyes and raised nose, and some freckles on her face. The thick fat over her neck made her look like she had two jaws. When she stooped to put Zhang Tie’s breakfast onto the table, her two white and tender boobs almost popped out of her collar.

”Oh, I’m not in a hurry. The early bird catches the worm; the early worm gets caught by the bird!” Zhang Tie ate his breakfast as he joked. The pizza with oyster tasted nice, but the seaweed soup with shrimp meat tasted a bit weird.

The fat girl then giggled as she coquetted by slightly patting him, ”You’re really funny!”

”Can you tell me how those pioneers leave Akurey Island? Is it by airship?”

”There’s no airship. You can only take ship at the pier. There are ships heading for Saint Herner, where you can take huge steamers for Ice and Snow Wilderness!”

”Oh, thanks!”

”My pleasure!” The fat girl turned around and left when she slightly rubbed Zhang Tie’s arm with her plump buttocks under her skirt. Zhang Tie then bravely and slightly patted and pinched them. The fat girl then turned around and threw an enchanting smile towards Zhang Tie.

There was really a high chance for young and handsome male pioneers to fall in love with amorous female waiters in inns. This was an old romance. After crossdressing, Zhang Tie looked pretty different than before.

Because of difference between human races, most of the white men on Waii Sub-Continent who mainly spoke Hebrew looked tough and resolute; Zhang Tie, as an east asian man, looked quite handsome before. After crossdressing, he became a white man and looked much more handsome and delicate. Although he was not as handsome as Heller, who made him self-conscious, he was worth the appellation of handsome boy.

After breakfast, Zhang Tie dropped a silver coin on the table and left. He was only thinking about improving his fighting strength, instead of teasing girls. Therefore, he just ignored Millie’s flirting.

After leaving Wild Home, Zhang Tie directly stopped a carriage and headed for the pier on Akurey Island.

Zhang Tie was in a nice mood. During the three days under sea water of challenging his endurance ability towards current, Zhang Tie gained one iron-body fruit in the Castle of Black Iron last night. After eating it, his body had been quenched by that mixed energy of cold and heat once again; as a result, he became resistant to strikes.

Besides that iron-body fruit, Zhang Tie gained one more leakless fruit last night. After eating it, the 15th surging point on his spine turned purple and was going to be activated very soon.

Therefore, although only after one night, Zhang Tie’s overall strength had improved a bit. This feeling of gradually improving his overall strength was really awesome.

...

The carriage soon arrived at the pier. Zhang Tie then spent over 20 silver coins for a steamer ticket from Akurey Island to Saint Herner Island.

Saint Herner Island was the biggest island in the northernmost of Ewentra Archipelago and the interchange station from Ewentra Archipelago to Ice and Snow Wilderness. It would take a steamer to go from Akurey Island to Saint Herner Island only a few hours. After Zhang Tie bought his ticket, he only waited a few minutes before the steamer set out.

...

When Zhang Tie left Akurey Island, the boss and the sailors went aboard the ship and prepared for the day’s work. They soon found that the lock on the hatch door was broken.

After checking, they found that only two sets of clothes were missing. Besides, that person who took away the clothes even left a gold coin on the desk in the room. They didn’t call the police; instead, this thing was usually taken as a laughing stock among those sailors. Nobody connected that gold coin with that big hole on the net.

...

The distance between Akurey Island and Saint Herner was over 1,000 km. The steamer would arrive at next night, which meant that Zhang Tie had to stay on the steamer for over 30 hours.

After stepping onto the steamer, Zhang Tie just stood on the deck watching the passenger liners and freighters on the sea. The developed ocean shipping industry and port trade in Ewentra Archipelago left an extremely deep impression on Zhang Tie. When the steamer fully set out of the harbor and started to navigate on the sea, Zhang Tie saw nothing else except for islands in the distant, large and small; although some islands looked nice, Zhang Tie didn’t feel like viewing the scenery anymore; instead, he went straight back to his own cabin. After closing the hatch door, he entered the trouble-reappearance situation.

...

Trouble-reappearance situation — outside Heavens Cold City...

The only demonized puppet activated had already charged at Zhang Tie when he appeared in the trouble-reappearance situation. The demonized puppet was the first humanoid living being that appeared in Zhang Tie’s trouble-reappearance situation as an achievement of Zhang Tie in Heavens Cold City.

Seeing this, Zhang Tie instantly pulled out his double-carps sword from his waist and cut off its legs. But the demonized puppet wouldn’t die; instead, it just crawled along the ground, furiously clawing at the ground, wanting to drag itself towards Zhang Tie...

After a glance at that demonized puppet, Zhang Tie turned around and ran towards the camp, leaving it far behind him at once.

Half an hour later, a huge fury-wind war airship crushed a lot of tents on the ground into pieces before it unsteadily flew in the air...

...

In a deep night of July, on Ell Zida Mountain, the highest mountain in the middle of Ice and Snow Wilderness, although it was summer with the highest temperature when everything grew up in other places, this place was covered with ice and snow all the year round. Especially in the evening, the dropping temperature along with the chilly wind from the north tested everybody’s physical endurance.

Ell Zida Mountain was where the holy grounds of Ice Field Huge-Bear tribe, the biggest tribe on Ice and Snow Wilderness, was located.

At this moment, the holy grounds of Ice Field Huge-Bear Tribe were surrounded by raging flames. Tens of thousands of the most powerful Cruel Bear Fighters in the tribe were kneeling down on the square with one knee with their hot and pious eyes gazing at that high sacrificial altar where the great sacrifice of the tribe was going on.

They were holding a sacred ceremony concerning the life or death of the whole tribe. The Ice Land Huge-Bear tribe had been waiting for this ceremony hundreds of years. It could be said that since this tribe migrated into the Ice and Snow Wilderness under the guidance of Ell Zida, the greatest prophet and pontiff of Ice Land Huge-Bear tribe, they had been waiting for this day.

This mountain was named after the greatest prophet and pontiff of the tribe.

Even facing the intolerable, chilly wind of the ice and snow land, none of tens of thousands of Cruel Bear fighters, who were as robust as mountains, steel, and iron and in only simple leather clothes with naked arms and chests, uttered any sound. The entire holy ground was so quiet except for the sound of the heavy wind and the cracking sound of the burning oil in the braziers.

This ceremony held by the pontiff and 18 officiants of the holy ground had undergone more than an hour. Since the start of the ceremony, sparkling starlights had appeared behind the pontiff. The twisting starlights responded to the stars in the sky while shadows as obscure as mirage constantly twisted among the starlights.

Everybody was holding their breaths and watching that scene with eyes widely opened. However, except for the pontiff of the holy ground, nobody understood what the shadows represented. Because only the pontiff could master that knowledge.

Each time the shadows of the twisting starlights were about to collapse, everybody on the square became very nervous. In order to finish this ceremony, more and more officiants fell down in front of the altar while the rest had blood dripping from the corners of their mouths. However, nobody spoke. Even those officiants who fell down didn’t make any sound either. Everybody was gritting their teeth and waiting for the end of the ceremony.

When the twisting starlights finally turned into the image of an Ice Land Huge Bear and disappeared, everybody on the square forgot to breathe.

They stood still for over ten seconds, which felt as long as a century for many people.

Finally, the pontiff’s exciting, crisp yet fatigued voice sounded out in the square which could be heard clearly by everybody.

”My lord, the lord of all lords, has arrived...”

Hearing this, tens of thousands of Cruel Bear fighters let out a sigh, which was collectively as loud as a thunder.

Meanwhile, terrifying battle qis surged into the sky one by another in front of the altar.

”We’ve waited for today for hundreds of years. Now, let’s wait for pontiff Sarin’s instructions. We will welcome our Lord back to Ell Zida. Each warrior of Ice Land Huge Bear Tribe is willing to use their own skin, blood, and flesh as the carpet and their bones as the stage for my Lord to ascend to the throne!” A loud thunder like voice sounded under the altar, which could be heard by everybody clearly too.

”Aukin, the most dubious and powerful warrior in Ice Land Huge-Bear tribe, in the mysterious maze with crossed time and space, I could only see a part of it. Perhaps, only the great forebears like Ell Zida could see more and guide us to wait for our Lord here and to make the prophecy of rejuvenating our tribe and population come true.”

”How can we find him and know who he is?” Aukin asked as what the others wanted to know.

Pontiff Sarin then started to hum again like talking in his dream—

”My Lord, the lord who is destined to conquer all the seas in the world comes here from over 10,000 km away in the sea. The sea with surging and dangerous waves are like plain roads under the Lord’s feet...

”My Lord, the lord of creatures who founds an immortal undertaking comes from the east and south; now, he’s on the sea and in the sky…

”The most powerful weapon of my Lord is his javelin. The javelin is as terrifying and powerful as bolts and thunders as it will destroy all the enemies on the road before us...

”My Lord’s look belongs to himself, yet could not be identified by others...

”When my Lord fights, he erects the banner to summon all of his fighters and all his fighters will see that...”

”He’s the most sacred god among all the gods. He controls all the other gods. He will bring the brilliance from the paradise to the earthly world and return the original honors of everyone!”

”Go, all the most powerful and bravest warriors of Ice Land Huge-Bear tribe who’s lucky enough to witness the arrival of my Lord, to fight together with my Lord in the future and to accept my Lord’s most sacred and honorable baptism for you in the future; since your grandpa’s grandpa, they had been waiting for this day, yet they failed. But you are lucky enough to see my Lord. Go, go tell the other tribes on Ice and Snow Wilderness: my Lord is coming. Go, go welcome my Lord to his immortal throne...”

Several minutes later, teams of sword-teeth beasts broke the tranquility of this land under the starlights with their heavy clops and darted in all directions from the foot of Ell Zida Mountain...