Chapter 463 - 184: "Frontline No. 1 is Tough.

Chapter 463: Chapter 184: "Frontline No. 1 is Tough.

"My apologies for that."

"It’s fine."

Chen Fan shook his head. He was starting to understand. He really wanted to ask, ’Is the commander-in-chief position hereditary?’ but it clearly wasn’t the right time.

The middle-aged man then remarked with some feeling, "Domain Lord Chen, for one so young to shoulder the responsibility of defending Jiangbei... you must be under immense pressure as well."

"I’m not that young."

Chen Fan chuckled lightly. "I’m almost thirty."

’I’ve been in this world for five years,’ he thought. ’That puts me at almost thirty.’

"That’s still very young. At your age, I was nowhere near as capable as you."

The man smiled, his expression turning serious as he looked at Chen Fan. "Domain Lord Chen, on behalf of all 770,000 people here at the No. 1 Frontline, I formally thank the Mortal Realm for its food aid."

"It’s incredibly important to us."

"Never mind that," Chen Fan said, asking a question that concerned him. "Are Ghost Stones really that scarce at the No. 1 Frontline right now? ’If things are that tight, can they even hold the line?’"

"Not exactly."

The man quickly understood and replied with a wry smile, "This is the frontline, after all. The daily output of Ghost Stones is still quite substantial."

"It’s just... this is Sister Chan’s first time in this position, so she’s a bit hesitant to use them. She’s always worried there won’t be enough Ghost Stones."

"..."

Chen Fan stared intently into the man’s eyes. Strangely, he couldn’t detect a single trace of jealousy. ’Logically,’ he thought, ’with the commander-in-chief dead, this deputy should have been the most likely person to take over.’

’To have the position snatched away by a woman younger than himself... no matter how well he hid it, there should be some trace of bitterness.’

But he saw none at all.

’Either this man is a master of disguise,’

’or...’

’the life expectancy for a commander-in-chief is just too short.’

As if reading Chen Fan’s mind, the man laughed. "Come, Domain Lord Chen. Let me give you a tour of the No. 1 Frontline."

"Lead the way."

The two walked side-by-side along the City Wall. Qi Yue followed a few steps behind, arms crossed around a longsword, a blade of foxtail grass dangling from her lips. She gazed out at the sea beyond the defense line, her eyes flickering with some unknown thought.

...

"The rainy season is when the Ghost Tides are at their most ferocious. It’s also when the Ghost Race tends to execute their decapitation strikes."

"The death of a commander-in-chief."

"It’s a massive blow to the morale of everyone on the defense line, and it creates a brief command vacuum."

The middle-aged man continued along the defense line, occasionally running his hand over the nearby City Wall.

"These decapitations usually involve traitors."

"For example—"

"Sister Chan’s teacher died from a poison that was put in his teapot. We found the poisoner, but by then, the damage was already done."

"It was a poison known as ’Great Ghost Flower’."

"A poisonous Great Ghost is refined into a single drop of liquid. It’s colorless, odorless, and incredibly toxic. Death is instantaneous the moment it goes down your throat."

"The only thing you can do is prevent it."

"Once it’s in your system, there’s nothing that can save you."

"Right after her teacher died, Sister Chan took over as commander-in-chief of the No. 1 Frontline. And to be honest, her experience runs deep—even deeper than mine."

"I was a transfer to the No. 1 Frontline. She was born here, on this very defense line."

"The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes wasn’t her mother."

"It was a Ghost Object."

The middle-aged man paused, then said, "Her parents were defending the city at the time. A Ghost Tide washed over the defense line. It slit her father’s throat and sliced open her mother’s belly."

"And that was how she came into this world, wailing."

"She was adopted by the No. 1 Frontline after that and has been working ever since she was a little girl. She started by bringing water to the men, then moved on to hauling supplies as she got older, and eventually, she was officially appointed to a key position."

"It’s safe to say..."

"she has never, not once, left the No. 1 Frontline since the day she was born."

"She was always at her teacher’s side."

"..."

As he walked along the City Wall, Chen Fan’s brow furrowed slightly. After a long pause, he spoke. "So the commander-in-chief position is a dangerous one?"

"Not exactly."

The man shook his head with a sigh. "If the Ghost Race had managed to infiltrate the Eternal Night Continent to that degree, we would’ve lost it long ago."

"It’s true that some people can be turned."

"But everyone around the commander-in-chief is rigorously screened and trained. Sister Chan’s teacher, for instance, served as commander here at the No. 1 Frontline for decades without a single incident."

"But you can guard against a thief for a thousand days; eventually, you’re bound to slip up."

"The reason she’s in this position—with the full approval of not just all of us, but the Eternal Night Hall as well—is because she has the experience and the ability for it. It’s not because the job has a high turnover rate from people dying."

Chen Fan nodded lightly.

Then he pointed to the turrets in the distance. "The No. 1 Frontline is heavily fortified."

On this defense line, there was no space between the turrets. The Jiangbei Defense Line had a Godslaying Cannon every 20 meters, but here, they were packed side-by-side with no gaps whatsoever.

A proud smile touched the middle-aged man’s lips as he spoke of the defenses. "The Western Eternal Night Xuanwu No. 1 Defense Line is a Level 9 Defense Line. The pressure we face from the Ghost Tides is enormous. We wouldn’t be able to hold the line with any fewer cannons."

"If you ever get the chance to come here during the rainy season, it’s a truly spectacular sight."

"This defense line has never once fallen since the day it was built."

Chen Fan nodded.

Afterward, the two continued to walk and talk along the City Wall, with the man sharing a great deal of information about the No. 1 Frontline.

Of course, it wasn’t top-secret. Everything he shared was common knowledge to anyone who had spent a decent amount of time on the front line.

But for Chen Fan, it was all new and fascinating.

「After walking for a long time.」

Chen Fan stood on the City Wall, feeling its solid weight beneath his feet as he gazed out beyond the fortifications. ’I need a defense line like this, too,’ he thought. ’A fortress like this... it just feels so much more secure.’