Jiang Yunhao

Seacloud City is vast and continues to expand without limits.

Meso-Sumeru technology is also widely used, capable of expanding a one-square-meter room to a hundred square meters.

But the rooms where slaves are held are only that small.

In rooms less than ten square meters, eighty children are crammed in. They eat, drink, and relieve themselves all in the same space, causing the entire room to be filled with a strange odor.

Food is severely insufficient, leaving them too weak to even speak. As soon as it gets dark, they fall into a deep sleep, awaiting tomorrow and an unknown fate.

Whether they starve to death or are bought by someone, the difference is negligible.

"Brother Hao, I want to kill myself. I don't want to go on like this anymore!" a child moaned softly. "I don't want to be a slave!"

"Absolutely not!" The young boy called Brother Hao, who looked about eleven or twelve, was skin and bones and hunched over, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. "You must live. As long as we're alive, there's hope. We won't be slaves forever. One day, we will return to Jiang Yun and become upright people!"

"Will there really be such a day?"

"Definitely!"

"And when will that be?"

"Maybe tomorrow, maybe very, very far away, but none of that matters. What matters is that you must live to see that day!"

"Is that so? I really want to see it, but... I'm sorry, Brother Hao, I think..."

"Liu'er, Little Liu?" The boy noticed the voice suddenly disappear and quickly lowered his head, only to see the other boy's eyes closed, a peaceful smile on his face.

Dead? He's dead?

"Little Liu, Little Liu, don't die, Little Liu!"

The surrounding boys glanced over silently, then silently looked away.

They had seen many scenes like this, and slowly, they had become accustomed to it.

Only Brother Hao gritted his teeth and wiped his eyes, but at this moment, there were no tears left to shed!

"Put him in the corner. Someone will come to collect him tomorrow!" Brother Hao sighed, leaned against the wall, and looked helplessly at the cobweb-filled ceiling, saying weakly.

The boys next to him worked together to lift Little Liu and carry him towards the door.

This was a scene Deep Blue presented within the Spiritual Realm, a reality unfolding in a certain corner of Seacloud City.

A very ordinary reality!

Yang Ning watched the entire scene in silence. He knew the living conditions of slaves weren't good; he could tell from the whip marks and emaciated appearance of the slaves he saw passing through the market during the day.

But he never imagined the reality would be this dire!

"Jiang Yun, Jiang Yun!!"

"Calm down!" Deep Blue reminded him.

"Don't worry, I'm very calm!" Yang Ning took a deep breath.

The people of Jiang Yun, whether in appearance, national character, or past experiences, reminded him of his hometown.

However, empathy was empathy; he still needed to be rational.

He constantly remembered that all suffering stems from the individual's lack of ability.

Therefore, becoming an immortal was the primary goal. If he could become an immortal, he didn't know about anything else, but at least he could decisively resolve most of the things he disliked in the Taiheng Realm!

"Him!" Yang Ning looked at Brother Hao in the image. Despite his young age, he was resolute, the leader among the children, and seemed quite eloquent.

He had searched around, and this one was the most outstanding.

"Communication mist drop arranged!" Deep Blue said. "You can talk now!"

"Hmm, first, let's set up a convincing voice!" Yang Ning said. "Like Zhong Li's, it sounds very steady. Yes, let's use Zhong Li's image and name too. By the way, do you know Zhong Li?"

"OMG, Genshin!" Deep Blue exclaimed.

"Damn it, we're talking business, hurry up!"

"Setup complete!"

AI voices and AI art are indeed used for scams. The next second, Zhong Li's deep voice appeared in Brother Hao's ear.

"He's not dead yet!"

"I know!" Brother Hao's words surprised Yang Ning. "He fainted from hunger, but there's no food here, so death is only a matter of time!"

"Hearing my voice, you're not surprised?" Yang Ning asked.

Shouldn't you first suspiciously ask who I am?

"It's just someone who has taken a liking to my life!" Brother Hao chuckled. "After all, I'm just a slave now. Besides my life, what other value is there to exploit? Those slave traders wouldn't have the leisure to joke with me."

He stood up, and the boys beside him immediately moved aside, allowing him to walk to the corner.

The next moment, the moans in the cell immediately grew louder.

"You can't be a competitor to this slave merchant. There are no competitors in a business with no capital. Are you an enemy of Taiheng?" Brother Hao asked.

"You child, you're acting a bit too smart!" Yang Ning sighed.

"If I wasn't smart, would you have found me?" Brother Hao retorted.

"Exactly!" Yang Ning nodded. He had been chosen from hundreds of prison cells and knew Brother Hao was smart, but he hadn't expected him to be this smart!

"Then you guess, what do you want me to do?" Yang Ning asked back.

"I don't know what you want me to do, but I know you have a way to save Little Six!" Brother Hao said. "If you couldn't, you wouldn't have asked!"

Yang Ning understood. This kid wanted to test his abilities first!

Of course, it was also possible he wanted to use his abilities for free. After all, he could save Little Six first and then refuse his cooperation!

At this moment, the initiative had actually fallen into Brother Hao's hands!

Of course, this initiative was fragile. It was based on Yang Ning needing Brother Hao and no one else. But in reality, Yang Ning could find someone else at any time.

Yang Ning needed a smart partner, but it wasn't like he wouldn't choose anyone but the absolute smartest.

So Brother Hao was gambling!

His expression was calm, but Deep Blue had already detected his soaring heart rate.

"You little brat!" Yang Ning exclaimed, a hint of admiration in his voice. "Could this person be Jiang Yun's savior?"

He didn't know, but Yang Ning did want a smarter collaborator. Otherwise, this person would be coming to him for help every few days, turning him into a nanny.

"See the spider above your head?" Yang Ning said.

"I see it. And then what?" Brother Hao looked up. The spider on the ceiling was about the size of a child's palm, with black and white stripes. There weren't many, about a dozen.

"This kind of spider is called a Zebra Spider. It's non-venomous. You can eat it after removing its head and legs!" Yang Ning said.

"Huh?" Brother Hao's eyes lit up. He immediately got up, then realized he couldn't reach. He quickly beckoned.

Two children nearby hurried over.

"Come help me catch spiders!" Brother Hao said.

The two children immediately squatted down and lifted Brother Hao up. Brother Hao reached out again, directly grabbing two of the largest spiders. He removed their heads and legs, then called to his companions to wake Little Six.

"Brother Hao, can this thing be eaten?" a child asked.

They naturally trusted Brother Hao, but these spiders were fuzzy. Just looking at them sent shivers down their spines!

"It can be eaten!" Brother Hao said firmly.

He didn't think that person would go to all this trouble to find the smartest person just to play a joke.

Even if it was a joke, it would only change a companion who was destined to die tomorrow into one who would die tonight. Was there a difference?

For people in his situation, there were often no choices!

Little Six slowly woke up. Before he could even turn around, he felt someone pry open his mouth and stuff something inside.

He didn't get a clear look at what it was, only that it felt fuzzy.

A starving person wouldn't care what they were eating. Since it was already in his mouth, Little Six bit it a few times, then his eyes lit up. He took a few more fierce bites and swallowed.

After eating, he finally regained a little strength. Little Six opened his eyes and saw Brother Hao beside him.

"How do you feel?" Brother Hao asked.

"Tastes like chicken," Little Six blinked. "Where did it come from?"

Brother Hao pointed to the sky. The other youths immediately swarmed forward.

These spiders had lived here for so many years, they had never seen such a scene and had no defenses. They were caught red-handed.

Unfortunately, there were too few. Each person got only a little, not enough.

Brother Hao directed, giving the bigger ones more and the smaller ones less. Then he asked, "Senior, are you still there? Can the spider legs really not be eaten?"

"You were calling me 'that person' just now, and now you're calling me 'Senior'!" Yang Ning laughed. "My name is Zhong Li. As for the spider legs, if you eat them ravenously when you're starving, the sharp spider legs will scratch your esophagus. If you chew them carefully, it's fine. The spider heads are the same. Remove the fangs and you can eat them!"

"Mm-hmm!" Brother Hao nodded and said, "My name is Jiang Yunhao. Thank you, Senior. I'll tell everyone now!"

He was very careful not to say Zhong Li's name.

"Jiang Yunhao? The surname Jiang Yun?" The name of the Jiang Yun Nation came from the surname Jiang Yun. Brother Hao's name was Jiang Yunhao.

"I'm not a prince!" Yang Ning asked.

"I'm not a prince!" Jiang Yunhao said. "Many people in the Jiang Yun Nation didn't have surnames before. After the nation was founded, they took Jiang Yun as their surname. My ancestors were farmers!!"

"Is that so!" Yang Ning truly didn't know what the Jiang Yun Nation was like, as it had been destroyed for almost a hundred years.

"How do you feel?" Yang Ning asked, seeing Jiang Yunhao had even eaten the spider legs clean.

"A little better!" Jiang Yunhao said.

However, a growing boy could eat his parents out of house and home. How could one small spider be enough?

It was Jiang Yunhao who felt Yang Ning's goodwill, which was why he didn't want to trouble Yang Ning further.

Yang Ning then said, "Three steps to your right, there's a nest of snakes under that floor tile. They're non-venomous and edible too. But be careful when you catch them, there might be a lot of them!!"

Deep Blue heard the hissing of snakes.

Jiang Yunhao's eyes lit up again. What was a lot? There were over eighty of them, they were afraid of not having enough!

He quickly directed his companions to lift the floor tiles and start catching snakes.

This time, more than a dozen snakes were caught, along with more than a dozen snake eggs.

Given the limited conditions, they could only be eaten raw. Jiang Yunhao divided the snake meat among the older children and the snake eggs among the younger ones, distributing them quite evenly.

"This child also has strong leadership skills!" As the saying goes, it's not poverty that causes trouble, but unequal distribution. You can tell if a person has leadership qualities by how they distribute things.

"Thank you, Senior, for letting us have a full meal!" Jiang Yunhao let out a long sigh and said, "With this, I'd be willing to die immediately!"

Yang Ning chuckled, "I let you eat your fill, not so you can go die!"

"Senior, please tell us what you need, as long as it doesn't involve betraying Jiang Yun Nation." Jiang Yunhao no longer tried to be clever. Showing off a little earlier was enough; too much would be detrimental.

"No rush, let's get you out of here first!" Yang Ning said, "I have two methods for you to get out. Which one do you choose?"

"Please, Senior, tell me!"

"The first method is that I'll send people over tomorrow to buy all of you."

"The second method is that I'll rescue you tonight, but you'll be wanted throughout the entire city. All slave merchants and even cultivators will accept missions to find you!"

"With the first method, all of you will survive. With the second, you might die, and you'll die horribly! Furthermore, even after death, you won't find peace, as your bodies might be hung on the city walls as a warning to others!"

Jiang Yunhao fell silent for a long time, then asked, "If we escape tonight, will you still help us on our journey?"

"Yes!" Yang Ning replied.

"Then there's no need to consider. I choose the second method!" Jiang Yunhao said.

"Tell me your reasoning?" Yang Ning asked, "Didn't you say that as long as people are alive, there is hope?"

"Once we get out, I will become that hope!" Jiang Yunhao said seriously, "As long as we are alive, they will know that someone is fighting for everyone's freedom!"

"As long as we have tasted freedom, they will know that they won't be slaves forever!"

Yang Ning was silent for a long time, then said to Deep Blue, "I think I've saved someone extraordinary!"