Chapter 260 - 152: Commencing Official Operation

Chapter 260: Chapter 152: Commencing Official Operation

Chen Fan did not linger in Medicine King Valley.

He left soon after.

This act...

...also meant the High-speed Rail line from Mortal City to Medicine King Valley was now completely connected. It spanned a total of 787 kilometers—a bit longer due to routing around a desert—and was calculated at a speed of 70 kilometers per cup of tea.

The entire journey could be completed in the time it takes to drink eleven cups of tea.

One was located in the northernmost part of Jiangbei.

The other was in the middle of Jiangnan.

In the past, the journey between these two places took several days. Without a Skeleton Horse, it was simply impossible, as the distance between stops was too great for an ordinary horse to reach the next one before nightfall.

But now...

...it took only eleven cups of tea to arrive.

And there was no need to endure the wind and sun.

No need to find lodging at a station.

You could arrive on the same day.

If you wanted, you could even make a round trip in a single day.

Of course—

The line wasn’t officially open to traffic yet; this was just the track-laying stage.

...

「Jiangnan Plain.」

Chen Fan sat aboard the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage, continuing to lay tracks. This time, he was laying the lines from Medicine King Valley to the various cities of Jiangnan.

Another five days passed.

Chen Fan began the journey home.

In these five days,

he had not rested in Jiangnan, connecting the lines to nearly all the major cities—a total of nine—linking them all.

Now!

The people of Jiangnan who wanted to travel to Jiangbei...

...could make the round trip in a single day.

On the way back, Chen Fan leaned wearily against the wall of the carriage. For the past ten days, aside from sleeping at night, he had barely stopped. The act of laying the Copper Pipes wasn’t tiring in itself—in fact, it could be said to be effortless—but the sheer quantity and duration were overwhelming.

Even the least tiring action becomes exhausting when repeated endlessly.

"Domain Lord."

Shao Qiu, who was sitting in the carriage, spoke softly after a long, complicated silence. "You have changed the Eternal Night Continent. You have changed the world. The Mortal Realm might one day become famous throughout the entire Eternal Night Continent."

Leaning against the carriage wall, Chen Fan waved a tired hand. "Don’t suck up to me. I’m exhausted right now."

"It’s not flattery."

Shao Qiu shook his head. "Even if your High-speed Rail lines currently only connect Jiangbei and Jiangnan, Domain Lord, you have no idea what this truly represents."

"..."

Chen Fan rolled his eyes at Shao Qiu. "Why don’t you just shut your mouth and let me rest for a bit?"

"I have no idea what it represents? I toiled away for ten days laying these tracks—you think I did it for fun?"

"That’s why I said,"

"You’re not suited for sucking up. Go sit in the corner."

"Uh..."

Shao Qiu shrank back awkwardly, retreating to a corner of the carriage. What he had actually wanted to say was that this project was unprecedented and would benefit not only the Mortal Realm but the entire Eternal Night Continent. But when he said it, the words seemed to come out wrong, and the flavor was all off.

...

Finally—

After a day and a night of travel.

This time, the Nine-Five Dragon Carriage did not stop when darkness fell. Instead, it sped directly through the eternal night, racing to return to the Mortal Realm as quickly as possible.

As soon as he returned to the Mortal Realm,

Chen Fan didn’t even have time to rest. He walked to the City Wall at the mouth of the cave, sat down in his familiar rocking chair, and sank into it. He instantly relaxed, letting out a long sigh. "Ah, this is much better."

’It’s so much more relaxing to be in the Mortal Realm.’

’Traveling out there is too exhausting.’

’Everything is so unfamiliar.’

The rocking chair beneath him had been made for him by Xiaoyu back when the Life Workshop was first established. Later, when the Life Workshop was upgraded and could craft better rocking chairs, he never replaced it.

He was used to it.

"Report on the Mortal Realm’s situation over the past few days."

Wang Kui stood to the side, handing Chen Fan the account book in his hands before beginning to recite from memory. This reporting method allowed Chen Fan to have a reference.

Furthermore, thanks to the Warehouse’s strict "in-and-out" inventory system, the account book was guaranteed to be free of errors.

"Domain Lord."

Wang Kui said with a serious expression, "In the eleven days you were away, we consumed a total of 1,379,000 Ghost Stones."

"During these same eleven days,"

"Mortal City’s net profit, after deducting production costs, was 2,370,000 Ghost Stones."

"This does not include the 100,000 Ghost Stones stored in the camp’s Ghost Fire, nor the 100,000 Ghost Stones in our reserve funds."

"Mortal City’s profits mainly come from the Silk Road."

"However, more and more factions are now setting up stalls in Mortal City to sell or purchase Exotic Treasures. Perhaps we should consider starting to take a cut."

"The Silk Road accounts for ninety percent of the total profit."

"The rest is just some meager profit. I opened a shop in Mortal City specifically to sell the braised foods made by Zhao Shengping, the Pavilion Master of the Artifact Pavilion. The income isn’t high, but it is growing steadily."

"The total profit from that over these eleven days was 12,000 Ghost Stones."

"Furthermore—"

"Over the past few days, many factions have offered the Mortal Realm a significant amount of Ghost Stones, hoping we will build the High-speed Rail to their doorsteps."

"But because you, Domain Lord, were in Jiangnan, and the Mortal Realm’s communication stations don’t reach that far yet, I couldn’t contact you. I provisionally accepted the Ghost Stones and told them we would make a decision once the Domain Lord returned."

"The amount of Ghost Stones in this batch is 3,710,000."

"If we don’t count this batch, the current number of Ghost Stones stored in the Mortal Realm Warehouse is 2,611,000."

"..."

Chen Fan’s expression turned slightly odd. "Are you saying that the Ghost Stones offered by other factions are more than what we have stored in the entire Mortal Realm?"

"Yes."

Wang Kui nodded. "It’s mainly because a lot of factions have contacted us. Basically, all the well-known factions in the Four Areas Jiangbei have approached us."

"Only the Wind and Rain Tower is gone."

"Otherwise, they would have come looking for us too."

"With the High-speed Rail, their assassinations would be much faster. They could accept a contract in the morning, arrive by noon, and be back at their camp in time for dinner."

"I’m afraid that wouldn’t work."

Chen Fan laughed. "The Wind and Rain Tower’s camp is on an island. Our High-speed Rail can’t be built to an island."