Operator #14 · [Stepping Stones]

The station's medical team arrived and, after understanding the situation, took Jiang Xueming back to the VIP tea room.

On the rooftop of the Council of Five Kings, under the illumination of artificial ultraviolet lights, there are patches of green ivy and spider plants.

The Hunter King had been waiting at the platform's reception path. Seeing Victor and Jiang Xueming return safely, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully took the Red Mountain Stone from Xue Ming's hand and wiped away the dust and grease from the journey. The brass bell was once again sparkling clean and returned to the King's pocket.

Jiang Xueming: "How is the BOSS?"

Hunter King: "Red Mountain Stone returns to its side, everything will proceed according to the predetermined procedure."

With a weight lifted from her heart, Xue Ming thought to herself, "At least I haven't let the BOSS down."

The elevator sign was rusted, and the bright red light leaped upwards, eventually reaching the top floor, the fortress platform first built by the Longhua construction team and the giants.

Victor walked the fastest and in the most hurry. He was an important member of this harvest season. As he stepped into the elevator, Jiang Xueming could vaguely sense the teacher's restlessness and unease, and could also guess some things.

Just as the teacher finished speaking with the executives of The Sun and handed over the drafts for next month, Xue Ming saw the teacher hand over his Walkman with the pyroxene, as well as his belt and shirt, as if he were giving away his last possessions.

When David Victor returned to Xue Ming's side, Xue Ming immediately asked...

"Teacher, would you like to participate in the harvest season ceremony?"

Victor: "That's right, I am one of the sacrifices for this ritual. I will carry the BOSS's bones into the [Promised Land]."

Xue Ming took out Mingde's remains, hesitated for a long time, and finally handed them to Victor.

"So, you might die?"

Before Victor could answer --

--As everyone passed through the large archway on the roof of the reception hall, a bright and open space suddenly opened up before them.

In front of the fortress tower of the VIP tea room, the wide road, stretching for hundreds of meters, was almost entirely lined with people. The group of nearly 1,300 people was divided into two lines, and the people who were originally sitting in the temporary rest area on the top floor suddenly stood up in the tea salon.

There had been some hushed discussions, sighs, and laughter—but all the sounds vanished when Jiang Xueming, Victor, and the Hunter King appeared.

The thousand-strong procession stood up in unison, removing their hats and gloves, taking off their jeweled ornaments, concealing the light of their souls, and carefully putting away their clubs, handing them over to the governors of the various block trade hubs.

These people are all Flash Butterflies scattered throughout the underground, and they are all VIPs registered in the station system.

Based on the color of the pyroxene, they divided it into six different zones. There are six main color systems: red, blue, yellow, green, black, and white. There are also many mixed colors, such as purplish-red or golden-green, most of which can be found in their respective locations.

The Red Zone has 441 VIPs, plus David Victor who just arrived. They are the warriors most favored by the Madness Butterfly and the faction most likely to produce Morpho Butterflies.

The Blue Zone has 300 VIPs, plus two new members, making a total of 302. One of them is Jason Megan, who just completed his trial mission. The majority of the members are magic teachers who combine staff and stone, and the others are Lapis Lazuli Guards from the Arcane Library.

The Yellow Zone has 114 VIPs. Gold represents wealth and luck. People in this camp come from all walks of life and are divided into 14 families. They keep their wealth firmly in their hands, determine the allocation of goods and logistics capacity in the underground world, and determine the basic social order of each settlement.

The Green Zone has 187 VIPs. Green represents vitality and learning ability. Most of them are artisans in trade transit stations or scholars in Research Station. After the VIPs carry out obstacle removal work on the unknown plots with harsh environments, it is their turn to step in the process of improving the geological environment, building satellite towns and developing agriculture.

The Black Zone has three VIPs, including Teacher Su Ling, one of whom is Su Ling's mentor Luo Ping'an, and another is a newcomer. Adding Wen Bucai, who just returned to the station system, there are four in total. This zone is merged with the White Zone to form [Anonymous].

The White Zone has fifty-one VIPs. The discolored stones represent pure energy. There are forty train commanders here, and the crew members of the Abyss Special Train are abundant here. The commander of the armed train heading to the Albert Research Station in the Northern Territory has also returned here. Jiang Xueming's corundum belongs to the White Zone—but Captain Wood's blood-red hibiscus stone is not included. Teacher Wood belongs to the Red Stone camp.

There were a total of 1,098 passengers and waiters, all of whom were Morpho butterflies.

There are a total of 214 governing officials across all districts.

The Transport Department has seventy-seven principal officials.

Four sacred beasts participated in the Blood Ceremony, including the wolf mother and the Pompeii worm with extremely high fire resistance, which Ming De had mentioned to Wen Bucai. In the cold and damp environment, its huge, hairy body stood out so much in the group. It leaned against the wolf mother, seemingly frozen, and wanted to get close to the big wolf.

In addition to key members of the medical, armed, engineering, and service teams, representatives from the [Philosopher Foundation].

[Harvest Season] 1,450 people were expected, 1,433 people actually attended.

Faced with the sea of people, Xue Ming's mind was instantly overwhelmed by the surging spiritual pressure, and her limbs began to stiffen.

Victor gently patted the student's shoulder and pointed to the sleeping student, Sixty-Three.

"Raise your head, raise your head, my student, you from another world, you've overcome this challenge single-handedly. Don't be nervous—you will become a great person."

Xue Ming simply repeated the previous question, "Teacher, will you die?"

David Victor was of great significance to Xue Ming, as he was the first VIP he had ever met. For more than a year, his teacher had been caring for Xue Ming and Liuxing almost constantly.

Although the teacher taught very little—during the Nymph stage, he only taught the two how to use their emotions to harness the power of the Radiant Stone, a mandatory introductory course for every passenger—his combat skills consisted of only teaching them body coordination and some strange dances.

But unbeknownst to them, Teacher Victor had already given the two little ones the most important thing: conveying the courage to overcome all obstacles and move forward with unwavering determination through the most straightforward dance moves.

"Keep moving forward." Victor did not answer the question. Whether they could survive the harvest season depended entirely on the VIPs' will to live.

The Polarized Sextant's readings show people's "will to survive." Xue Ming had never understood its purpose before. Don't people instinctively try to survive when faced with the threat of death? Isn't not wanting to die human nature?

Later, during the elemental quality assessment in the VIP tea room, Xue Ming learned that this thing was extremely important, especially after entering the [Gate of Death] state, it could almost represent people's [death resistance].

Doctors often say that whether a critically ill person can survive depends on their will to Gate of Hell.

Faced with the Ming De physical body, the most important criterion for the selected butterflies from various regions is their [will to survive].

To confront the physical body of the Taowu, VIPs need to fight against its spiritual pressure. Fighting against the terrifying spiritual pressure is like a critically ill patient whose spiritual energy has been drained. Once the thought of "giving up and dying" arises in one's mind, the Taowu will devour it without hesitation.

The teacher was unwilling to say more, so Xue Ming stopped asking.

Like the other VIPs, he remained absolutely silent.

Fifty carriages stood in the middle of the road, lined up neatly like coffins, filling the entire road.

Looking further ahead, Ling Weng, carrying the BOSS's Black Cat -like body, stood beneath the walls of the VIP tea room, walking forward step by step.

The Hunter King held up the Red Mountain Stone, and the spirit immediately drew back the curtain of the ceremony.

"Please welcome the first warrior from Redstone's Hundred Flavors Workshop— David Victor. Unfortunately, your new book may end its serialization at chapter sixty-one."

Victor escorted Xue Ming toward the White Stone camp, and they parted ways.

The teacher then replied to Ling Weng, "The draft for next month has already been submitted to the editor-in-chief of The Sun. I will definitely finish the story."

Ling Weng hugged the Black Cat tightly, his eyes full of approval. "A wonderful will to survive! Take Mingde's remains and go to the wishing well in the Promised Land! I hope you can become the next [Detective King]!"

Victor took the steel mace from Xue Ming's hand, Xiao Qi handed him another steel mace from the direction of Huangshi District.

A Xing also took out his own cane and handed the Iron Knight to the festival staff. All three clubs contained the bones of Ming De.

Immediately afterwards, an elderly man with a white beard emerged from the blue zone.

Ling Weng then announced, "Please welcome the second master from Blue Stone's Fools' Workshop — Lupin Hank. Unfortunately, your research on clubs and pyroxene will have to be suspended for a while."

The old man from the Bluestone District took six different-shaped staffs from his assistant and students, removed the brilliance stones, and replied to the Spirit Elder, "This matter is not negotiable. I will surpass your achievements in my lifetime, Hephaestus."

Hephaestus is the real name of the Owl.

Upon hearing the human's provocation, the Spirit Elder raised an eyebrow, and its body, constructed of gems and gold and silver, emitted a chuckle.

"Hahahaha! What a great will to survive! I hope you can become the next [King of Craftsmen]! Head to the Wishing Well in the Promised Land!"

Next came the offerings from Yellowstone District --

"--Let the two factions of Yellowstone decide your sacrifices." The Spirit Elder said this, his eyes mocking as he swept over the people adorned with gold, jade, and jewels. "Only in your area has the BOSS not appointed a suitable candidate. Perhaps you had a plan? Please, the two elders of the Senate, [Golden Spoon] and [Sunflower], select a sacrifice."

Jiang Xueming looked in that direction--

After Bai Ziqing handed over the steel mace, the staff sent her to the customer service department. It seemed that Xiao Qi couldn't get along with these wealthy people, or was simply unable to integrate into their social circle.

An Asian man, who looked to be in his early twenties, stepped out from Jinshi's group.

Ling Weng immediately said, "Very good! You're a rising star of the [Sunflower Movement]. What's your name?"

The young man immediately replied, "My surname is Ouyang, and my name is Ouyang Yan."

Ling Weng flipped through the guest list, and only spoke after a long time.

"Are you the son-in-law of the [Sunflower Movement] Senate leader?"

Ouyang Yan nodded meekly.

"Right"

Ling Weng: "You're not qualified to call your father-in-law."

"But..." Young Ouyang Yan wanted to explain something more. He turned around, looked at his family members, and then at his wife. Suddenly, he found courage again. "My will to live is very strong! Spirit Elder! I can do it! For my family! I will definitely complete the ceremony!"

Ling Weng looked dejected and full of regret. "It's very likely that a strong young man will be made a scapegoat for some cowardly old man. His wife will lose her husband, and his unborn child will lose his father, because the rich and powerful have all agreed that this sacrifice can only be made by him."

"Hey!" A thunderous roar erupted from the Jinshi camp, "Who are you cursing?"

Ling Weng pouted, "Whoever answers me like that, I'll curse them."

The riots were quickly quelled.

Xue Ming also sensed something different from those few words.

The VIPs at the station are never a monolithic group. Like Yellowstone's camp, there are many people from the Philosopher Foundation who are responsible for various affairs both underground and on the surface. The personnel transfers at Nine Realms Station are mainly handled by the BOSS who owns the Polarized Sextant. However, for other matters, such as the local logistics system and governing personnel, and the managers of different plots, the BOSS is powerless to intervene.

The [Sunflower] Senate is the core of material transportation for most engineering infrastructure projects, plays a major role in bringing surface materials to the underground world, and is the one who brings sunlight.

[Golden Spoon] is the Blood Butterfly currency issued around the BOSS, which constructs [HellCat] and the Seed of Chaos as the settlement currency system and is the decision-maker of the underground economy.

As Ouyang Yan arrived in the Promised Land—

"--Where are your bones?" Ling Weng asked about Mingde's remains.

Ouyang Yan glanced in the direction of the family and replied firmly, "Only four bones are needed to hold the ceremony."

Ling Weng immediately interrupted, "Who told you to say that?"

Ouyang Yan somewhat timidly, "It wasn't me."

Ling Weng: "Who told you to say that?"

The silence lasted for a very, very long time.

--So long that the BOSS yawned in Ling Weng's arms, almost falling asleep.

The Old Lingweng then stopped, and immediately began to shout, "Next! Please welcome the Archdruid of Greenstone! Bella Yaha!"

A person in a vegetative state emerged from the group.

--Yes, it's a person in a vegetative state.

The woman's body was covered in lush green leaves and old bark, as if her physical body had been transformed by her extremely special soul power, and no normal skin texture could be seen.

Her movement was also very strange, like a centipede wriggling, carrying Mingde's bones, unprocessed multifaceted bone, as she came before Ling Weng.

Ling Weng said to Ms. Bella, "It's a pity, little one, your good days are over. You may not be able to continue taking care of the flower fields in District 61. Those new varieties will have to be completed by your students, and your students' students' students. I hope you can become the next [Master Craftsman]."

"Don't try to provoke me." A crack suddenly appeared on Bella's rough skin, turning into her mouth. From the mouth emerged long, narrow, snake-like eyes, revealing an ambiguous gaze. "Today, Ming De is going to switch to a vegetarian diet, and its carbon emissions will decrease by a percentage."

The boss immediately screamed, "Enough! Stop reading! Enough! Shut her up! Is she really not here to cause trouble?! I don't want to eat this stuff!"

Lingweng gently stroked the BOSS's spine, smoothing the fur all the way to its tail.

--Then the announcer continued.

"Please welcome the Undead from Blackrock, Wen Bucai. It is with great regret that I announce that your long life may be coming to an end. If you survive, I hope you can become the next [Hunter King]."

Mr. Wen Bucai waved goodbye to the only three companions of the Black Stone team, took the steel ruler from Su Ling's hand, and came to the wishing well. He deliberately took a few extra steps toward Victor, much like a primary school student finding a familiar classmate.

"Finally, please welcome the train conductor of White Stone, Jesse Hartman. It's a pity you've just been promoted from stoker to conductor on the Intercity Express, which means your journey will likely end sooner than expected. If the opportunity arises, I hope to see you become the next [Detective King]."

The necessary conditions for holding the ceremony have been met.

The four relics of Mingde are: Red Stone's "The Unworthy Work", Blue Stone's six Magic Wand, Green Stone's original relics, and Black Stone's "Acting Evil on Behalf of Heaven".

Six sacrifices stepped forward to choose five of them, eliminating one lucky one.

The boss needs to talk to these people, release spiritual pressure through the Red Mountain Stone, and select five suitable people by giving these VIPs a skin test for allergies.

In the past, such rituals would last a long time. For example, during the last harvest season, the other four people besides the Hunter King were all eaten. During the repeated conversations, the BOSS also had to explain some emergency measures to the various blocks, such as how to take emergency precautions after the station's traffic was paralyzed.

This time, the process was completed in just a few words.

--The lush green Ms. Bella was sent back to the Greenstone camp. Clearly, the BOSS doesn't like vegetarians, and Ms. Bella's will to survive isn't strong enough.

During the process of building a bond with the ingredients, the Black Cat gave Victor special instructions.

"Have you found the next translator? You promised me."

Victor covered his face, feeling extremely troubled. "The Hell Highway's reading and writing ability is unique, and I haven't found a suitable candidate yet."

The Black Cat said weakly, "Then there's no rush. You can go to the Redstone District and call someone else to take your place. There should be plenty of fearless little fools who will package themselves up as exquisite cat food and rush to receive this honor."

Victor shook his head. "No, no, no, BOSS."

The Black Cat was deeply surprised. "Could it be that you..."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Teacher Victor grinned. "I'm really curious to know what it's like to be a sacrifice for the harvest season. To face your physical body and bear your spiritual pressure would be fantastic writing material!"

The Black Cat said to Wen Bucai, "He went to Niflheim, has he lost his mind?"

Wen Bucai switched to Cantonese: "I don't know."

The Black Cat sighed, tied on the cat bell, and started talking to Victor about other things.

"Call Jiang Xueming over. I can sense a very peculiar, bitter spiritual pressure. Has he already transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly? Why is this spiritual pressure so powerful? His elemental essence is so abundant and tempting, making my mouth water. Has he awakened the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow? What exactly happened to him?"

Victor immediately perked up. "Actually, I wanted to explain this to you after the harvest season. The desire to express myself is also a manifestation of my will to survive—if I didn't finish this story, I probably wouldn't die in peace. Since you wanted to hear it earlier..."

"Stop talking nonsense and bring him here!" the Black Cat cursed, displaying extremely poor manners.

When Jiang Xueming and Sixty-Three appeared before the BOSS, Victor added fuel to the fire, explaining the whole story in detail, which silenced the BOSS.

An unprecedentedly bold idea popped into the Black Cat's mind.

During harvest season, the Taowu needs a stable and peaceful sleep, and it cannot wake up even if it is peeled from the body of the White Lady's larvae and suffers the pain of being skinned and having its bones cut out.

Jiang Xueming's soul power was just enough to do this, but no one could guarantee that [Fragrant Dream] could really put the Taowu to sleep.

The bone-setting ritual requires at least four Morpho Butterflies to complete. The last extra one is considered a substitute, who becomes the BOSS's backup servant in the worst-case scenario where everyone else dies or is devoured by the Taowu.

The Black Cat suddenly perked up, jumped onto Jiang Xueming's shoulder, and gazed at the sleeping Sixty-Three.

"Victor, you can write on him, and you can create mental images in his dreams, you can read his thoughts—call upon [Hell Highway], I want to talk to this guy."

Victor: "Boss, you want to eat him? Use him as your sleeping pill? As a stepping stone?"

"Have a bit more emotional intelligence." The Black Cat grinned maliciously. "Stepping Stones—which can be translated as stepping stones, advancement stones, or stones for advancement."