Dumping

Shante calmly said to Enel, "Joining the guard team is simple. You just need to run five laps around Birka before sunset."

"Five laps?" Enel could not stay calm. Birka might have a population of only a little over three thousand, but the island itself was not small.

One lap around Birka was at least sixteen kilometers. Five laps meant roughly eighty kilometers.

It was noon now, and sunset would be around six o'clock. In other words, Enel had less than six hours to run eighty kilometers—an average of thirteen kilometers per hour.

For Enel, who had never received formal training, this was undoubtedly a test.

"Fine!" Enel did not waste any words. He turned and ran outside, cutting straight across Birka's streets before charging toward the island's edge.

With a flip of his palm, Shante sent a Scout Bee after him.

Enel began with a wild, unstructured sprint. He quickly covered the first dozen or so kilometers in less than forty minutes.

But trouble soon found him.

"Huff, huff... Damn it! I'm exhausted!" Enel panted with his mouth open, slowing more and more as his legs began to feel as though they had been filled with lead.

Another hour passed without him noticing. During that hour, he had covered only around nine kilometers and had not even finished two laps.

His body grew increasingly heavy, his breathing as labored as a bull's, and his sweat soaked through his clothes before being dried by the wind, leaving a layer of salt behind.

At that moment, several fishermen who had just finished eating were preparing to head to the White White Sea to fish in vessels modified with Wind Shells.

When they spotted the panting Enel, they immediately looked at him with contempt.

Enel felt the fishermen's gazes. Those looks pierced his heart once more. He clenched his fists, and a fresh burst of strength seemed to rise from within, supporting him as he kept running.

Shante, who was observing in secret, kept an eye on Enel while busily recruiting employees.

Quite a few young people in Birka had also applied to join the guard team, but most of them merely wanted a meal ticket. Very few were like Enel.

Naturally, they would also have to undergo an assessment, but theirs would be held together in a week. Enel was effectively taking the test early.

As time ticked away, Sky Cloud Trading Company's recruitment efforts in Birka completed their initial plan. Every position except those in the guard team had been filled.

This recruitment drive hired a total of 513 Sky People. Another 73 had applied for the guard team, and they would need to take part in the unified assessment a week later.

Birka's god, Kahn, had actually been secretly monitoring the Sky Cloud Federation's actions all along.

However, seeing that they were merely recruiting employees whose work areas would be on neighboring Sunset Island, Kahn felt much more at ease.

Unfortunately, he was still far too naive. He had no idea that the smallholder economy was simply vulnerable before intensive, large-scale industry.

Once those employees received their wages, coupled with Sky Cloud Trading Company's cheap goods, Birka's local agriculture and commerce would be crushed in an instant.

After all, given the purchasing power of Gold Yuan, the Indigenous People's Agricultural Products and merchandise would have no competitive edge whatsoever.

This would lead to social stratification, forming three classes: trading company employees, Indigenous People who were not employees, and priests.

The priestly system would not be greatly affected, as it had income from land rent. Trading company employees, supported by their wages, would likewise enjoy better lives amid the sudden social upheaval.

The ones most negatively affected would be the ordinary Indigenous People. The smallholder economy they depended on for survival would decline even further.

Without comparison, there was no harm. Once the trading company employees became prosperous, a huge gap in quality of life would emerge between the two groups. To improve their own living standards, those people would have no choice but to enter Sky Cloud Trading Company's economic cycle.

Once the economic infiltration was complete, Birka's priestly forces would be powerless to reverse the situation.

For the Sky Cloud Federation, there was no need to fight the priestly forces with real swords and guns. All they needed was low-cost goods to destroy Birka's primitive economy and seize control of its economic lifeline, taking the place without spilling a drop of blood.

Of course, they still needed to show off some muscle, if only to deter any petty thoughts from the priestly forces.

That was why Mammon had immediately given Kahn and the others a show of force at the start: to make them afraid to act rashly and instill fear of the Sky Cloud Federation in them.

It would make the next step of slowly boiling the frog much easier.

This method seemed troublesome.

But once economic infiltration was complete, control over the region would be extremely strong. After all, Sky Cloud Trading Company would control Birka's food, clothing, housing, and transportation. If the company ever cut off its supply of goods, Birka could very well collapse outright.

The sun was setting.

At the boundary between the White White Sea and Birka's island cloud, a figure was still running slowly.

Suddenly, Enel pitched forward. He had tripped over a vine. With difficulty, he rolled onto his back and looked toward the western horizon.

The setting sun had already sunk more than halfway into the White White Sea.

"Huff, huff... Damn it! Is this really all I'm capable of?"

Unwillingness, despair, and pain filled Enel's heart. He still had roughly eight kilometers left before completing the fifth lap.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He looked around again and thought, Could those guys be messing with me? No one is even watching me. I might as well walk back now and say I already finished five laps.

Enel tried hard to convince himself. He climbed to his feet, preparing to head back directly.

"Well, if it isn't Enel, the one without wings?" A flippant voice suddenly rang out nearby.

Enel froze instantly. A tall young Sky Person stood in a nearby tree, dragging a Big Fish behind him.

Seeing Enel fall silent instead of flying into a rage like he usually did, the man found it rather boring. He shrugged and mocked him.

"Kid! You think you can join the guard team? You're just as stupid as that father of yours, who spends every day dreaming about going to Infinite Land. Hahaha..."

That piercing laughter was like a sharp blade, cutting straight into the most vulnerable part of Enel's heart.

Enel raised his head and stared fixedly at the other man's retreating back. Fury filled his chest, and another surge of strength emerged from his utterly exhausted body.

"Infinite Land exists!" Enel roared, his voice echoing through the forest.

Then he turned around and sprinted madly through the remaining eight kilometers. His body had entered an overloaded state; many muscles had already torn, and some were even beginning to waste away.

Yet the conviction in his heart supported Enel as he continued running.

The last ray of sunlight vanished beneath the clouds of White White Sea, and Birka entered the night.

Enel was still running—or, more accurately, limping forward. His body had already reached its limit.

For the final kilometer, he used the last remnants of light to see the tree one kilometer away—the tree that had marked the starting point.

I can't fall!

I still have to go to Infinite Land!

Sweat blurred his vision, while the cold winds high in the night sky rapidly drained the heat from Enel's body.

Inside the Birka branch of Sky Cloud Trading Company.

One of the Natural Human soldiers turned his head in surprise and asked, "Team Leader, aren't we going to stop that kid? At this rate, he might die."

Shante held a massive barbell with an expressionless face.

Half an hour later, Enel collapsed beside the tree that marked the finish line. His body was already on the verge of death.

The Scout Bee that had been following him flew over and attached itself to Enel, keeping his last breath alive.

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