Chapter 225 – People on a Journey
“All talk and no action would not accomplish much. However, if you put your heart into the matter and sit down to craft out and refine a plan, the only true issue you would face would pertain to the auction itself. In an auction, even if many were to attain, it is still imperative for you to at least bring numerous items that would attract the eye of many. If the goods do not meet the standards of others, no matter how refined your plan is, it will amount to nothing.”
Wang Zhong paid close attention to Ma Dong’s explanation. Although he had no much prior experience about carrying out a business, he fully understood the concepts behind it. The goods presented in the auction would have to be something extraordinary.
This notion made him think about the hyperdimensional world. In the past, Ma Dong had mentioned that the hyperdimensional world was a realm full of rare items. They should be considered as rare artefacts in Ma Dong’s auction right? Additionally, with the dimensional array formation that Aioros had taught him, he would be able to bring items easily between the two dimensions. Though it may not count for much, it would still help Ma Dong out.
“This time, my old man would also be doing his best to support me. I had assumed that he had decided to retire and had relinquished his power. Was I ever so wrong about that! Instead, he was testing me to see if I was going to stand up in his stead. For this auction, the one in charge of gathering the resources would be me. Though I can’t compete against Uncle’s years of contacts and experience, my dad had conducted numerous auctions before. Though it was always attributed to his hobby of collecting antiques, he managed to come up with numerous antiques that was highly sought after in every single one of his auctions. For this auction, we are prepared to stake part of our family property. Furthermore, I have already hired to groups of adventurers to head to the Carolzan restricted region in the northern area to search for rare items. It goes without saying that they were paid handsomely for this relic hunt…”
Restricted regions were often how many got rich. Although there was immense risk and danger involved, the profits reaped from such excavations were stupendous. There were many rarities ranging from soul power crystals of powerful mutated beasts to strange relics born from dense dimensional energies. Moreover, there were many adolescent mutated beasts that could be tamed and sold for huge profits. Those were often the key highlight of auctions.
“Hiring adventuring squads to go on such missions are really expensive,” spoke Ma Dong with a sheepish look on his face. He could not help but feel guilty. “For the sake of winning this competition, my old man had even placed his coffin on the line. This isn’t like the last time. If I were to lose, retiring would become a problem for my dad. I can’t help but feel that I’ve let my dad down. This should be my own issue to handle, not his. I guess the only thing left is to leave it up to fate. If Lady Luck is on my side, the adventuring squads would return with a big harvest. On the other hand, both squads could be entirely annihilated, rendering no returns in the process. In any case, it is all up to the heavens now.”
Seeing Ma Dong so emotional, Wang Zhong weight the pros and cons of his idea before making his decision. “I might be able to get my hands on some antiques,” said Wang Zhong. “However, I can’t guarantee that my plan would pan out.”
“What?” gawked Ma Dong.
“If that’s the case, help me get ten cans of cola, those that are packaged nicely. Also…about six packs of ham sausage that are of excellent quality.”
Mad Dong knew everything about Wang Zhong, even his secret persona as All Mouthy King. Based on that, he very much doubt that Wang Zhong would be able to attain any special or high class items. Nevertheless, his brother harboured good intentions and he could not say no to that.
“No problem,” replied Ma Dong with a grin. Rubbing his hands together, he asked “So when do you need them?”
“Before I leave Tianjing.”
“Leave it to me.”
Cola and ham sausage didn’t cost much. With some nice packaging, he was sure that his two new friends would be more excited when they finally get a chance to not only see, but also to taste them.
It was a pity that ten cans of cola and six ham sausages was the maximum that Wang Zhong could carry over. The carrying capacity of the dimensional array formation that Aioros had taught him was rather limited. After a couple of calculations, he had estimated that this was the maximum he could carry. After all, the drawing style for the array was of a completely different system from the one he knew. If he carried too many things along with him, it would be akin to sending a person accustomed to heavy gravity off into space without any training. Getting used to it would only come with experience. Without any explanation from anyone else, this amount would be the maximum Wang Zhong could achieve based on his comprehension and understanding. Fortunately, the core component of this formation was his Soul Power.
With that, Captain Wang Zhong had to shoulder another extra load. Counting the dates, the next meetup with Mu Zi and Aioros should be during the special training in Copperfield.
On the 27th day of the month, the squadron was ready to set off. The official start of the special training was on the first day of the next month. It would take them about two to three days to reach Copperfield via the armored railway.
Quite a few people had came to send them off. It goes without any doubt that Headmaster Greene had to be present. Along with him, not only Ma Dong, but also the parents of Lily, Colby and Hymin that who stayed in Tianjing had came to send them off.y
Compared to the others, Lily and Colby’s parents remained quite reserved. After all, they had sent their child away when they were representing the academy in the regionals last year. Though they had been eliminated after a few fights, they had already experienced sending their child once. Hymin’s parents, on the other hand, were far more emotional.
Hymin’s mom had been continuously talking to her for the past hour while holding in to her hand tightly. They talked about all sort of topics such as the cold weather at Copperfield and how many layers she should wear. While they were talking, tears streamed down their faces, as though they were about to part for life. The people around them were dumbfounded at the scene before them.
The reaction of Hymin and her parents were not unprecedented after all.
In this era, it was common for humans to stay in a single city throughout their lifetime. For many, having to step out of the city to attend to matters was rare and this was true for Hymin’s family. Though they were considered well to do, they were not so rich such that it would require them to attend to matters outside of the city itself. Alongside the fact that Hymin’s mother treating the matter of her daughter heading to Copperfield Academy as an enormous issue, such a reaction was to be expected.
During this sendoff, there was just four people within the Prodigy Society that were more relaxed that the others. Emily had a calm expression as she had experience sitting on the armored railway before. Wang Zhong, Grai and Barran, on the other hand, were focused on the armored train itself.
Based on outward appearance, the armored train seemed to not differ much from the green-skinned cargo trains used in the previous era. The outer shell of train had rust and scratches at many places, all indicative of its years of history and hardship. Even so, the armoured train still looked sturdy and ready for its next adventure.
This sturdiness was due to fact that the chassis was made of the new alloy developed by the Federation after the dark era. Since the wilderness that outside of the cities are now filled with radiation, an ordinary steel train from the previous era would not do well under such an environment. Those pockets of rust were because of the radiation. If anyone were to brush his fingers gently across the surface, they could feel the radiation within it.
The concept behind this alloy that made the armored railway was focused on “energy absorption”, granting it the capability to absorb and convert radiation and dimensional energy to kinetic energy.
It was akin to idea of solar power used during the previous era, completely using the energy collected from the surroundings. The only difference was the complexity in the collecting and converting of radiation and dimensional energy as their levels present in the wilderness fluctuate. The technology to absorb and convert radiation and dimensional energies was highly sought after by the Kaiser Empire, who was researching it with all their might.
The interior of the train cabin wasn’t spacious and wide. Nevertheless, everything was neat and tidy, practical and functional.
Present within were the common hard seat. It’s said that in the VIP cabin, one could not only lie down and sleep, there was even a dedicated entertainment area. However, for most, being able to seat in an armored train to pass through tens of cities while seeing the scenery was already more than sufficient.