Chapter 284
Qingmu Fortress.
As soon as Chi Hao returned to his dorm, a long-awaited system message popped up before his eyes.
[Congratulations! Elite Quest “Establish a New Branch” triggered]
[Quest Description: A mysterious merchant intends to set up a new branch in Qingmu Fortress. Once established, the branch will receive the protection of the God of Commerce—customers with malicious intent will be unable to enter the store.]
[Quest Objective: Reach Lv20 and pass the Branch Manager’s Ethics Assessment at Store No. 6.]
[Reward: Permission to establish the branch + 1,000 points]
Chi Hao blinked a few times. Once he processed the message, he shot up from his bed.
No way! A quest to open a new branch—an elite quest!
Protection from the God of Commerce? That sounds pretty amazing…
His first instinct was to message Lan Yunqing to share the surprise—
Even though the system had voice and video chat, the fees were outrageous, so they mostly stuck to text.
Now, with private message notifications enabled, it was a lot more convenient than using forum DMs.
After messaging Lan Yunqing, Chi Hao also sent updates to Hong Li and Xie Zhaori.
[Greenish Blue]: Sis, I’m gonna be a branch manager!
[Chi Long]: Oh?
Chi Hao immediately spilled all the quest details in a flurry of text.
[Greenish Blue]: I was thinking of going to Jufeng Mountain to find you guys, but looks like that’s not happening for now.
[Greenish Blue]: Sigh, what can I say? That’s the life of an elite.
Hong Li twitched at that, though…
She didn’t remember it being so complicated when she set up the Guard Post Grocery Store. Pretty sure she just hit “1” in the shop channel and it was done.
[Chi Long]: What level are you?
[Greenish Blue]: Lv15! What about you?
[Chi Long]: Lv17.
[Greenish Blue]: …
[Greenish Blue]: What the hell, how are you so fast?
Chi Hao felt personally attacked. If he remembered right, his sister had only been recruited a short while ago. How was she two levels ahead of him?!
[Greenish Blue]: Oh right, you’re an admin. Just post a command and a bunch of people rush to trade with you. Not fair, I’m not even gonna compare!
Hong Li just shrugged. Facts were facts.
[Chi Long]: That’s why I keep telling you—hurry up and get over here.
[Chi Long]: Those two kids are developing super fast. They’ve already taken over Linhai Town. Add in Desolate City and Jufeng Mountain, and they’ve formed a new joint settlement.
[Chi Long]: Trust me, this place is going to be the center of the world someday.
Was it really that dramatic?
Chi Hao eyed the message suspiciously, but… his sister had no reason to lie to him.
[Greenish Blue]: But I just got the task to set up a branch in Qingmu Fortress.
[Greenish Blue]: If the divine envoy gave me that quest, they must be planning to expand into the fortress too, right?
When Hong Li saw his message, she couldn’t help falling silent.
Even though she had already defected from Qingmu Fortress, she had still grown up there, and the place had once offered her and her brother shelter…
If the Church of Commerce truly intended to push into Qingmu Fortress, conflict seemed inevitable.
When that happened—could she really stay uninvolved?
Meanwhile, Chi Hao received a reply from Lan Yunqing.
[Red as Flame]: Congratulations.
Chi Hao suddenly felt a little downhearted.
[Greenish Blue]: Now that I’ve become the branch manager of Qingmu Fortress, I guess it’ll be hard for us to meet again.
[Red as Flame]: Not necessarily.
Lan Yunqing then told him about how Tang Yu’an and the others had built a branch in Lanhu Town—but didn’t stay there to run it. They eventually returned to Desolate City Haven.
Lately, he had also been considering sending people to Desolate City—not just to observe and learn, but also because of Changqing’s persistent invitations.
With Tang Yu’an’s help, Lan Yunqing had connected with Old Li, who was very eager to recruit some of Lanhu Town’s highly educated talent—people who could at least read and write, unlike the illiterate majority he’d struggled to train.
Naturally, Lan Yunqing had also been informed about Desolate City’s Lanhu tree, which had already grown into a grove.
When he heard that Kang Kang had used the Lanhu leaves to cultivate the forest, Lan Yunqing could only admire it. But he didn’t harbor any resentment.
After all, cultivating a whole forest from just leaves took real skill. As long as they didn’t try to seize the Mother Tree, he had no complaints.
Besides, Master Kang Kang had saved the Mother Tree—and was now deeply beloved by it.
[Red as Flame]: For now, just focus on leveling up to Lv20 and passing the assessment.
[Greenish Blue]: The assessment? Pfft, piece of cake!
These past couple of months, the fortress hadn’t given him any missions. And every time he left, someone was tailing him. So Chi Hao had simply holed up in his dorm and focused on studying.
He’d already passed the mini exam and advanced to middle school curriculum!
Clearly, the mysterious merchant had seen his progress and excellence—that’s why he got this “elite quest.”
Chi Hao felt like he was totally crushing it right now.
But then…
[Greenish Blue]: Wait, that means Xiao An and the others have been Lv20 for a while now, right?
[ Greenish Blue]: What about you? What level are you?
After a brief pause, Lan Yunqing replied.
[Red as Flame]: Lv22.
Chi Hao: “…”
Wait, seriously?!
Among all the employees, aside from Zhou Qi, Lan Yunqing still had the highest level.
On one hand, he had help from Lan Yueliang; on the other, he’d kept his old routine—completing hundreds of trades daily, no matter what, and occasionally helping out with physical labor.
He was the epitome of a hardworking, model employee.
Chi Hao really had a lot to learn from him.
Tang Yu’an sent the quest to Chi Hao, transferred him to Store No. 6, and assigned the assessment task to Old Mo.
Previously, the constitution egg rewarded from a quest had caused Gan Lin to have diarrhea for several days after just one bite. Fortunately, he endured it and his physique truly improved significantly.
After witnessing its effects, Old Mo didn’t dare eat it casually. He spent a few days conserving energy and then began trying it little by little.
His symptoms were similar to Gan Lin’s, but not as severe since he controlled his intake.
As he kept testing it, the side effects gradually diminished, and by the time he finished the whole egg, it was like he had undergone a complete transformation—he looked at least ten years younger.
Of course, all this was something Gan Lin told Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi through his dreams.
*
The RV was still on the road, about one-third of the way to Flame Dragon Fortress. Fortunately, the second half of the trip cut through desert terrain, so their speed had increased. They estimated it would only take a week or two to arrive.
“Let’s go. Time to visit the alternate dimension.”
After collecting the day’s message bottles and placing an “order” with Cosona for mechanical arms, they stepped into the teleportation array and traveled to the alternate dimension.
Half a month had passed in the main world, but over a year had gone by here. The floating bridge spanning the river had already been completed by the construction bots.
Thanks to the protective barrier, the bridge remained perfectly intact despite the raging river currents and the massive river beasts lurking beneath the surface.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi didn’t rush to cross. Instead, they went to their cabin and had a good night’s sleep.
*
Over the past year, the construction bots had not only built the bridge, but also expanded the perimeter walls as instructed by Tang Yu’an.
Now, not only the Giant Wood Forest but even large parts of the river’s far side were enclosed within the territory.
The next morning, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi prepared their weapons and gear, summoned their pets, and set off across the bridge.
As they walked, Tang Yu’an looked down at the giant fish swimming in the river.
“Brother Qi, do you think that rift to the core of Desolate City is down there under the river?”
“Probably,” Zhou Qi said. “But since Desolate City isn’t currently in a flood season, that rift is likely closed for now.”
“Do you think the rift will get bigger?”
Zhou Qi thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Theoretically, yes.”
By now, they were pretty certain that the disaster in the main world was caused by a spatial rift connecting it to the alternate dimension.
“If the partition between ink and clear water gets a few holes in it, what do you think would happen?” Zhou Qi asked.
“The clear water would get stained, and the ink would be diluted?” Tang Yu’an guessed. “Eventually, they’d become a uniform solution.”
“Exactly. They’d merge.”
Zhou Qi explained his view:
“When the ink’s volume and concentration vastly outweigh the water’s, the merging becomes a one-sided consumption. The ink barely changes.”
Just like the main world and the alternate world.
The main world was like clear water, now polluted and murky. But the alternate world remained peaceful and unchanged—seemingly unaffected.
“If they merge, would there still be a time difference?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“Probably not,” Zhou Qi replied.
Ink consumes water. Water merges into ink. Eventually, the water level stabilizes.
“But the fusion of two worlds should take a very, very long time,” Zhou Qi said.
It had already been 66 years since the disaster in the main world, but over in the alternate world…
“1980? Whoa, that’s forever ago!”
It had been almost 2,000 years!
“Do you think creatures in the alternate world have longer lifespans?” Tang Yu’an wondered.
“Yuan Bao and the others often play in the Giant Wood Forest. They keep growing stronger, but don’t seem to age.”
Zhou Qi nodded.
“That might be related to spirit energy.”
There was no definitive conclusion on how long ability-users could live. After all, it hadn’t even been 66 years since the first ability-user emerged.
Most had died due to disasters. No one had died of old age yet.
“Granny Guo and Grandpa Li are still going strong. Maybe it’s because ability-users live longer.”
But now that they had taken the constitution egg and undergone a body cleansing transformation, they were no longer quite the same as local ability-users—so it was hard to say for sure.
*
By this point, they had crossed the bridge and reached the other side of the river.
Compared to the far bank, this side showed obvious signs of human—wait, no, giant activity.
Tang Yu’an stared at the massive footprints outside the fences and gulped.
These giants… had they discovered the camp?!
But that shouldn’t be possible—the cabin had been in closed-shop mode this entire time. Outsiders shouldn’t be able to detect it.
So why were there giant footprints pacing around the outer perimeter?
Tang Yu’an checked the map, but everything beyond the fence was still shrouded in fog, so he couldn’t use it to locate the giants.
“Should we go check the cabin?” Tang Yu’an asked, pulling out a shadow umbrella.
But Zhou Qi didn’t reply. He was staring off into the distance, at the edge of the riverbank.
Tang Yu’an followed his gaze and extended his spiritual sense in that direction. After only a few meters, he felt a tremor in the ground.
BOOM—BOOM—
The sound cracked like thunder, but thanks to the protective barrier, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi weren’t too worried.
As they looked toward the sound’s origin, a figure gradually appeared.
It seemed to be a young man in animal hides, holding a fish in one hand. The problem was—
He was gigantic.
He looked like he was seven or eight stories tall.
The fish in his hand—easily five or six meters long—looked tiny in comparison.
As the giant slowly approached, Tang Yu’an’s perspective shifted from eye level to craning his neck up.
This was the first time Tang Yu’an had seen a giant.
No matter how many times he had imagined it, nothing could compare to the sheer awe of seeing one in person.
He and Zhou Qi both held their breath because…
The giant didn’t head toward the cabin. Instead, he suddenly stopped when he passed by the fence.
Tang Yu’an was certain — the giant was looking directly at them.
Could it be that the protective barrier had failed?
As they watched, the giant reached his hand out toward them, and Zhou Qi immediately pulled Tang Yu’an close, ready to retreat with him — but then…
The giant’s hand halted mid-air.
There was a transparent barrier blocking his way. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move past it.
This seemed to frustrate him greatly.
He patted the barrier and said, “What kind of creatures are you? How are you all so tiny?”
It must’ve been the translation module they purchased earlier kicking in, because Tang Yu’an could understand what the giant was saying!
So… the giant could see them, but couldn’t enter the barrier?
The giant’s thunderous voice continued to rumble:
“You’re occupying territory by my river without permission. That’s extremely rude!”
Tang Yu’an steadied Zhou Qi, then cautiously flew upward—
Since the barrier now expanded to cover the Giant Wood Forest, it was also as tall as the trees, easily over a hundred meters high, so there was no worry about flying out of it.
“Hello, Mister Giant,”
Tang Yu’an called out loudly.
“You can see us?”
Zhou Qi could clearly see the giant’s expression change. His face, which had been stern and a bit annoyed, suddenly softened.
It was like…He’d just spotted a kitten and found it absolutely adorable.
