The bald man had not expected Li Qiang to answer like that. His face twisted with rage, and he shrieked, "Damn it! I, One-Eyed Dragon, am somebody in the Black Prison! Don't think a few tricks let you ride roughshod over me... come on! Kill them with the weapon!"
A man stepped out from behind the bald man, holding a small black rod, and pointed it at Li Qiang. The onlookers backed away in panic, and Li Qiang immediately grew alert. With a savage grin, the man suddenly fired a spot of red light from the little black rod. It was incredibly fast.
Li Qiang had not figured out what the thing was and did not dare block it recklessly. His body shot upward, and the red dot skimmed beneath his feet. A scream rang out in the distance; someone had failed to dodge it.
The man cursed and fired another red dot.
Li Qiang sensed trouble. This thing was like a handgun-it could actually fire repeatedly. With a whistle, he surged forward, and Han Jin and the other three charged as well.
In the blink of an eye, Li Qiang was already in front of the man, baring his teeth in a grin. Seeing the scars on Li Qiang's face, the man thought they were little different from his boss's-equally hideous and terrifying, especially when he smiled. He cried out in fright, and somehow the black rod vanished from his hand. He stared blankly at Li Qiang, unable to understand why his weapon was now in Li Qiang's hand.
Li Qiang noticed a button on the black rod and pressed it out of curiosity. A red dot shot out. Bang! It struck the dazed man squarely.
The man stared in disbelief at the large hole in his chest, reaching out and groping vacantly. His vision darkened, and he murmured, "Impossible..." He toppled headfirst to the ground, his legs twitched once, and his eyes stared blankly into the air, remaining open in death.
This move immediately cowed everyone. Li Qiang shouted, "Hands up! Kneel on the ground! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
Sure enough, whoever the little black rod pointed at dropped to their knees in terror. Flesh and blood could not withstand such a weapon.
One-Eyed Dragon watched in despair as his men knelt all over the ground. The Small Spine-Piercing Spear he had gone to such pains to obtain was now in his opponent's hands. If Li Qiang wished, one shot would take his life.
The first rule of the Black Prison was to stay alive; the second was to submit to power. He understood that, young as his opponent looked, he was undoubtedly an extremely formidable expert. Fear involuntarily filled his heart.
Li Qiang handed the Small Spine-Piercing Spear to Han Jin and said with a smile, "This thing's pretty handy. Hold on to it for now. Hey! One-Eyed Dragon, come here. Relax, I haven't decided to kill you."
Han Jin and the other three had not even had time to strike before the fight ended. Taking the Small Spine-Piercing Spear, Han Jin said in surprise, "This thing really is powerful. I've never seen anything like it before."
One-Eyed Dragon approached timidly, gritting his teeth and mustering his courage to see how Li Qiang would deal with him. In every district, deposed bosses met miserable ends.
Li Qiang glanced at him and said, "One-Eyed Dragon, send someone to gather everyone in our district. I have something to say."
One-Eyed Dragon felt temporarily relieved, knowing he was not in immediate danger. He turned and ordered a subordinate to fetch everyone.
Before long, people poured in, group after group. A full six or seven hundred arrived, secretly startling Li Qiang and his companions.
One-Eyed Dragon's subordinate reported to him, "Boss, some people are still working at the mining faces. Should we call them over too?"
One-Eyed Dragon smacked him on the head with a slap and cursed, "Gouzi, he's the boss! I... I'm not your boss anymore. Ah..."
Gouzi glanced fearfully at Li Qiang and dared not speak. The newcomers were all asking questions in low voices, not understanding what had happened.
Li Qiang jumped onto a large rock and said, "Quiet, everyone. Listen to me."
The crowd slowly quieted, and everyone looked at him.
"Let me ask you a question. Tell me... do you want to return to your homeland, to go home and reunite with your families?"
Everyone's eyes brightened, including One-Eyed Dragon's single eye, then dimmed again. Someone said softly, "What's the use of wanting to? I've never heard of anyone escaping from here." Another said, "Ah, that's impossible."
"If you don't even have hope anymore, if you've already despaired of all this, then what meaning is there in living?" Li Qiang paused, watching their reactions, then continued, "I, Muzi, will give you a possibility and a hope. If you're willing, start preparing now. I'll lead you out of the Black Prison!"
One-Eyed Dragon had witnessed the skills of Li Qiang and his companions and knew he was not talking nonsense. A thread of hope involuntarily rose within him. Looking at Li Qiang, he said, "Good! If you can lead us out of the Black Prison, I'll be the first to submit to you. If I can see my homeland once more in this life, I'll die content!" Uncontrollable longing for home welled up in everyone's heart. For the first time, hope of returning home arose deep within them. The crowd began to stir. Some started crying; others muttered to themselves in agitation.
Li Qiang stirred them further, saying loudly, "Think of your parents, your wives and children! Think of the fields and gardens back home! Are you willing to drag out your entire lives in this sunless place?"
"No!" Though the reply was not particularly loud, the light of hope was already flashing in many people's eyes.
"If we have no hope ourselves, can we expect others to save us? We must unite and rely on our own strength! We won't let others dictate our fate anymore. We'll fight our way out of the Black Prison and return home! Do you have confidence? Louder! I can't hear you!"
"Yes!" The thunderous shout was deafening.
Li Qiang immediately relaxed inwardly. What he had feared most was that these people had already grown numb and become walking corpses.
Qiao Yuhong and Han Jin's group of four looked at Li Qiang with something close to worship. Han Jin thought, I wonder what Brother Muzi used to do. He actually has a natural air of leadership. Perhaps he really can lead everyone home.
The Tante Kingdom's Black Camp had never imagined that this purchase included a cultivator-and a cultivator with leadership ability at that. They had truly bought themselves an enormous time bomb.
The bald One-Eyed Dragon came from the Qingfeng Kingdom. His name was Nashan, though there was nothing kind about him. Though he was somewhat unwilling to submit to Li Qiang this time, Li Qiang had touched on his greatest wish: returning to his homeland. He had been imprisoned in the Black Prison for a very long time. When he left home, his eldest son had been only eleven, and his youngest daughter had still been in swaddling clothes. He intended to first see how Li Qiang prepared. If it really proved feasible, he decided he would support him wholeheartedly.
Under Nashan's arrangements, Li Qiang moved into a room that had been cleaned very thoroughly. More precisely, it consisted of three connected square caves. The furnishings were quite complete, with a bed and benches, and even a small passage leading to a toilet.
Li Qiang felt a little troubled. How should he arrange things for Qiao Yuhong? Since he did not need to sleep anyway, he decided to let her sleep in his bed, where it would be safer too. He first had Qiao Yuhong lie down. Seeing her nervous expression, he could not help comforting her. "Little Brother Hong, go to sleep! Your big brother has things to do and will be right outside. Don't be afraid."
Coming into the outer room, Li Qiang began asking about conditions in the Black Prison.
Nashan, Han Jin, Wei Yuanqing, Zhao Zhi, and Lin Fenghe sat scattered about the room. Nashan was responsible for explaining the actual situation there.
One-eyed Nashan's district had more than eight hundred and sixty people in total and covered an area nearly a thousand meters across. It had seven workable mining faces and two rich deposits. Life was reasonably manageable, and people occasionally came from other places to join them.
The Black Prison had more than forty districts altogether. Large districts had one or two thousand people, while even the small ones had three or four hundred. By that reckoning, the entire Black Prison held a full thirty or forty thousand people.
Li Qiang asked, "Nashan, how much crystal ore do we have in stock?"
Nashan smiled bitterly. "Not much left. We traded quite a bit for food last time, but we've taken in quite a few people lately, and food is running low too. It'll be hard to keep going."
"We need to find a way to collect crystal ore. We'll need it to make weapons." Li Qiang suddenly remembered that there was still plenty of food and supplies in his bracelet. He added, "Can we trade things with other districts for crystal ore?"
"Yes, but we don't have anything."
Han Jin agreed, "That's right! People brought here don't even have a spare change of clothes beyond their personal belongings."
"I do, so you don't need to worry about that. Right, Nashan, I need someone who understands the language here. Find me one."
Nashan said in puzzlement, "Find someone from the Green Tribe. They understand the language here. But, boss..." He did not understand what Li Qiang meant. Everyone here could understand one another, so what use would that person be?
Li Qiang smiled. "If we get out and can't even understand the local language, what will we do? That's why everyone needs to learn."
In fact, Li Qiang had already begun planning to build his own force. Having seen Tanbang Star's technology, he knew that even if he recovered to his state before being sealed, at most he could escape alone. Hoping to get everyone out without arming them was nothing but fantasy.
"We'll play this out slowly. I refuse to believe we can't beat it." Li Qiang decided to make a major effort, and once his mind was made up, he acted immediately. Considering that he knew absolutely nothing about military affairs, he had Nashan gather all the prisoners who had served as soldiers, especially those who had been officers. Having come from Earth, Li Qiang understood the importance of talent more deeply than most.
While Nashan went to gather the prisoners, Han Jin said, "Brother Muzi, Brother Lin used to command a border garrison in the Gusong Kingdom. He resigned because his superiors squeezed him out. He knows how to fight wars."
Lin Fenghe said, "Ah, why bring that up? I'd long since lost heart. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to your place."
Zhao Zhi interjected, "Brother Muzi, Brother Lin used to be my superior. He was a renowned cavalry general in the army. I was the one who invited him to join the escort agency. Who could have imagined that on his very first escort job..."
Lin Fenghe cut Zhao Zhi off. "Brother, none of us could have foreseen it. Such was our fate!"
Li Qiang was delighted. He already regarded these four as his core followers, and Lin Fenghe having been an officer made things even better. Smiling, he said, "Brother Lin, you'll be responsible for organizing and training the troops. When Nashan brings the men over, you can assess them."
Lin Fenghe hesitated slightly. "I'm only afraid I'll do a poor job and drag everyone down."
Hearing his misgivings, Li Qiang pulled him aside and quietly showed him a jade token. "I'll back you up. Just go all out. How about it?" Li Qiang knew that he had to make Lin Fenghe follow him wholeheartedly if he was to control the direction of future developments, so he could no longer worry about so much.
The shock Lin Fenghe felt on seeing the jade token was beyond words. When serving as a cavalry general on the frontier, he had read court proclamations and knew that jade tokens of this design were personally bestowed by the emperor. None but imperial relatives and noble kin could receive one. Whoever saw this token was to regard it as seeing the emperor himself. His legs weakened, and he was about to kneel when Li Qiang caught him and said with a smile, "As long as you understand."
Li Qiang promised him further, "If we get back, I'll write you a letter of recommendation. You can go straight to the palace to see the emperor." Li Qiang wondered privately whether he was going too far, using such a method to win someone over.
Han Jin and the others watched the two whispering together in bewilderment. Lin Fenghe, after all, had served in official circles. Though a military officer, he understood how things worked. He smiled. "Very well. I'll follow all your instructions, Brother Muzi." Inwardly, he wondered, Who exactly is he?
Nashan returned with more than thirty men and said, "These have all served as officers."
Li Qiang noticed that most of them belonged to the Green Tribe. A thought stirred, and he suddenly realized something very important: warfare on this planet might be fundamentally different from warfare on Heavenly Court Star. Technology here should be highly advanced, and the corresponding forms of warfare would differ as well. What should he do about that?
Li Qiang asked with a smile, "I'd like to know which of you held the highest rank, and who's best at warfare?"
Almost every officer who had entered looked at one man. He was a thin, small Green Tribe man, with green hair falling loosely over his shoulders and a haggard expression. Yet when he raised his eyes to Li Qiang, he possessed a commanding presence without showing anger, a domineering air presumably cultivated through years in the military.
He said evenly, "I was the commander of the Bangqining Kingdom's Seventh Army. I was captured while returning to the Grand Military Department to report for duty. Since I was wearing civilian clothes, I was taken for a civilian and sent to the Black Prison." He added, "My name is Nanadun."
"Excellent. Welcome aboard," Li Qiang said in a tone that allowed no refusal.
There were two other senior officers among them; the rest were all junior officers from the lower ranks. Li Qiang's only concern now was having too few talented people, and he immediately began making arrangements for a discussion.
Of those two senior officers, one was Quartermaster Tange, and the other was Kankanqi, commander of the Flying Battle Corps. The three Green Tribe officers stayed behind, and with Li Qiang and his companions, there were nine people altogether.
After careful consideration, Li Qiang said, "The nine of us will now form a team. From this moment on, we must unite in complete sincerity. Whether we can fight our way out of the Black Prison depends on everyone's efforts. First, tell me whether you have the confidence to do this." His eyes, however, signaled Lin Fenghe to speak.
Li Qiang understood very well the importance of the first person to declare his position. He could inspire confidence in everyone, or sow doubts in all their minds.
Lin Fenghe understood just as clearly and immediately said, "I support Brother Muzi's proposal. Rather than dying of old age in the Black Prison, we should stake everything on a fight. Perhaps we'll still have a chance. Even dying in battle would be better than dragging out our lives in this sunless Black Prison!"
Nashan, Han Jin, and the others all voiced their support.
The three Green Tribe officers remained silent, and the atmosphere grew still.
After a long while, Quartermaster Tange said, "We have no weapons, no protective gear, and most people here are civilians. Our opponents are well-equipped soldiers. How are we supposed to fight? We'd be going to our deaths."
Zhao Zhi said, "If you lose confidence before you even start, of course you can't beat the enemy. I refuse to believe we can't take them."
Kankanqi sneered. "On the Tanbang Continent, you can't fight wars with just your sabers and swords. If we fight like that, we'll be nothing but livestock waiting for slaughter. We won't even know how we died."
Li Qiang knew that continuing this argument would end badly. He raised a hand to stop Lin Fenghe from speaking and said, "Don't worry about weapons and equipment. I'll handle those." Looking at Nanadun, he added, "I only want to know whether you have confidence."
Li Qiang knew Nanadun was their mainstay. He had to win his support.
Nanadun suddenly felt tremendous pressure coming from Li Qiang. It was the shock of a towering mountain rising before his eyes. He was greatly startled. He had once seen a Green Tribe cultivation expert display something similar, and immediately began to suspect that Li Qiang was a cultivator. If so, their hopes of escape would increase greatly.
"With weapons and equipment, and after training, it wouldn't be hopeless. But we'd have to seize the right opportunity to have any chance of breaking out. Still... let's begin preparing first." Nanadun thought that even if they escaped the Black Prison, holding off pursuers from the skies and the ground would be extremely difficult. They could only rely on luck.
Li Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Good. Let's discuss the division of duties. I suggest Lin Fenghe and Nanadun take responsibility for military command, Tange for logistical supplies, Kankanqi, Zhao Zhi, and Wei Yuanqing for training the soldiers, Han Jin for coordination, and Nashan as liaison officer." Though phrased as suggestions, his tone was commanding. For now, no one wished to challenge Li Qiang's authority, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"Since there are no objections, go make your preparations. Tange and Nashan, stay. The rest of you may go." Through this meeting, Li Qiang established his position as overall leader.
Nashan stared at Li Qiang in disbelief. As though performing magic tricks, he suddenly produced a roomful of daily necessities, along with many foods Nashan had never seen. Tange also gaped, wide-eyed and stupefied, unable to understand how he had conjured so many things.
A storage bracelet was rare even in the cultivation world, let alone the mundane world. To Li Qiang, their shock could not have been more normal.
Ignoring the two dumbstruck men, Li Qiang smiled. "You handle these. Remember to trade some of them for crystal ore! Make everyone a good meal, and remember to save me a portion too." Thinking that Qiao Yuhong would surely be hungry when she woke, he specifically asked for a portion.
Nashan hesitated. "Boss, these things draw too much attention. We must post guards. Also, trading them for crystal ore won't be a problem, but..." He was unsure how to put it.
Tange had, after all, served as a senior quartermaster and immediately understood. "That's right. If we take these things to another district, we might not get any crystal ore, and our people might not come back alive. Some districts have many people and many skilled fighters. What do we do if they simply rob us?"
Li Qiang had not considered this. This was not an orderly place; without military strength backing them, everything was empty talk. Li Qiang said, "Hmm, then let's have everyone eat a meal first. Trading for crystal ore can wait."
Nashan looked troubled. "There isn't really much food. We'd better conserve it and just give everyone a small taste."
Tange agreed. "Yes! Food is life here. Without food, everything is finished."
Li Qiang thought, Who knew I'd end up here? If I hadn't indulged in that mad shopping spree on Earth, I wouldn't even have these things. He said, "You make the arrangements! I need to rest for a while. Don't disturb me, understood?"
Entering the room, Li Qiang carefully set up the simplest defensive formation at the doorway. Since he could not use True Essence Power, he would be unable to activate even a slightly more complicated formation, even if he laid it out.
He sat cross-legged to examine his sealed Nascent Soul. Looking inward, he saw that the ten streaks of golden light had already become a curtain of light, tightly wrapping his Shadow Dream Armor and Nascent Soul. Because his Nascent Soul was unusual and had several supreme treasures inside holding firm, even the tremendous force of the Soul-Shattering Golden Finger could invade no further. He tried to sink his consciousness into his Nascent Soul, but several consecutive attempts were all blocked outside.
Li Qiang cursed inwardly in anger. Without entering his Nascent Soul, he could not mobilize his True Essence Power or even refine equipment. Every method he tried proved useless, and he had to admit that Situ Yong was quite capable.
Just as Li Qiang was about to give up, he suddenly remembered something. Where had that little fellow, the Fire Essence, gone?