Chapter 357 - Iron-Blooded City
Chapter 357: Iron-Blooded City
In the Purple Moon era, information was definitely an unfair yet precious resource.
For example, those who were born into a group of Drifters and those born in a large safety city were totally different, at least, from how the world viewed them
The world in Tang Ling’s eyes had once been a primitive land. It was filled with traces of an old civilization, yet he was unable to confirm whether it really existed or not. Places further away from the settlement were all a mystery to him.
On the contrary, Tang Long knew a lot of rules of the world ever since he could remember. He knew about the distribution of factions and the history of Purple Moon. Among the knowledge he had, he bore something deep in his mind, a number, or to be more exact, coordinates: Latitude 39.
As a matter of fact, not only did Tang Long remember the number, but anyone who was born in a safety city or a large safety sector would also know and remember the number from the moment they received formal education.
According to his age, Tang Ling should have known about the existence of the number had he continued receiving education in the Hope Barrier.
Unfortunately, his life was never on the right track. Therefore, he had no idea what Latitude 39 was. The coordinates held an important meaning to mankind. It was like the line between life and death.
So, what exactly was Latitude 39?
It was where the first defense line of mankind lay—the First Defense Line.
On this defense line was a structure, one that was considered as the greatest building in the history of mankind — Iron-Blooded City.
It was not actually a city but a gigantic wall! Its size was far more astonishing than the ancient Great Wall of Huaxia that had once shocked the old civilization.
Ever since mankind made the leap into the Purple Moon era, people had the idea of building Iron-Blooded City.
As for how many heroic stories happened in the process of building it, it was far too long to tell them all now. All people needed to know was that there was a gigantic monument in the center of Iron-Blooded City where every name and attainment of heroes were carved on.
Everyone also needed to know that every brick that was used to build Iron-Blooded City was soaked in the blood of those who had built it.
Based on the rules of the Purple Moon era, after one became a Purple Moon Warrior and was registered under the system, one would have the duty to serve in Iron-Blooded City for at least 3 years.
Why?
It was for the survival of mankind. They must protect and further strengthen the wall before mankind was capable of exploring beyond the wall.
Therefore, Latitude 39 was also known as the Line of Life Or Death.
Beyond Latitude 39, the land was peaceful and considered paradise. All safety cites, sectors, villages, and even Drifter camps were located behind the line.
Beyond Latitude 39, there were no vicious beasts at level 6 or above. All the high-tier vicious beast materials were usually gathered by power factions or individuals who sailed at sea or wandered beyond Iron-Blooded City.
Beyond Latitude 39, the terrain and weather changes were relatively less extreme where it was acceptable to mankind.
Beyond Latitude 39…
…
In short, mankind could only live in the land protected by Iron-Blooded City.
As for the land beyond Latitude 39, it was a whole new world. Aside from all kinds of dangerous living beings, the extreme changes in weather and terrain were also deadly.
Latitude 39 was the line that split the planet into two different worlds.
Beyond the line, the laws of evolution were different. It was more extreme and unpredictable out there.
For example, a black-toothed rat of the lowest level would give birth to the next generation and its next generation might possibly become a level 3 mutated black-toothed rat or higher. The direction of the mutation was unpredictable.
If men walked beyond the line, they would be bound by the law as well.
The effect from the law of evolution beyond the line might not be a bad thing. According to many powerhouses, it could trigger mankind’s talent in advance, and if one was lucky, it could even trigger a second or a third talent.
However, the law of evolution might also steer mankind’s evolution in the wrong direction and it was irreversible. For example, a man might grow a monkey’s tail. The possibility was low unless one was crazy enough to give birth far beyond Latitude 39. Then, all kinds of bizarre evolution or mutation might happen.
Despite the law of evolution going haywire, it was still not why the land beyond the line was scary.
The scariest thing about the land beyond Latitude 39 was the cities left behind by the old civilization, especially the metropolis! They were the ruins that the people of the Purple Moon era referred to.
These ruins became the playground for all kinds of dangerous living beings. It was a paradise for them all.
Once, there was a ranking that summarized the top 10 dangerous ruins in the world, four of which were known for their immense level of danger. However, those four dangerous ruins were child’s play compared to the land beyond Latitude 39.
Mankind had yet to conquer the four major ruins before Latitude 39, so the level of danger beyond the line was self-explanatory.
The ruins beyond the line were the most dangerous places. The most powerful men once went on an expedition outside the wall, but none of them dared to even get close to the ruins.
However, the best resources on the planet were all located beyond Latitude 39, hence many powerful men had to take the risk outside the wall because the current resources behind the wall could no longer sustain their development.
Many secrets were held beyond Latitude 39 and those powerful men who ventured beyond the wall tended to keep it that way.
“It isn’t necessary to ruin people’s happiness. Having a tinge of happiness in this era is already difficult,” said one of the powerful men and that was everything he had to say about the secrets beyond the wall.
…
Tang Ling and Tang Long remained unconscious, but according to the people around them, it was a matter of days before they woke up.
To heal them at all costs, many resources had been poured into their bodies. Therefore, they did not just recover fully but became even stronger than before.
The new strength that they gained was something like the strongest form that one could attain before breaking through to become a Purple Moon Warrior.
Before this, both Tang Ling and Tang Long, despite being geniuses, were some distance away from their peak form because achieving the peak was something that one must train for since young.
Tang Ling was not qualified at all to achieve such form, but Tang Long?
For some unknown reason, he did not reach the best state either and the reason was buried far too deep to be uncovered.
In short, in order to raise their body qualities to their peak form, the only way was to break them! Only then they could stand taller than before! This was the true purpose of the copper-faced man! He even used the unique massage techniques on the two of them just to help them to reach the peak form before they become Purple Moon Warriors!
Once they became Purple Moon Warriors, they would not get the chance to do so anymore!
Tang Ling and Tang Long were still unconscious because their bodies were at the last stage of the reconstruction. Once their bodies reached the perfect state, they would eventually wake up.
The only unfortunate thing was that Tang Long’s body did not achieve the esteemed body because there were still some impurities left in him unlike Tang Ling, who had achieved it through serendipity.
It could not be forced though. Even the copper-faced man had no ways around this. After all, there were only so many people with esteemed bodies in this world.
In short, before either one of them became Purple Moon Warriors, achieving the perfect state was the best they could do.
The perfect body state might work differently depending on the person, but the benefits were all the same from a certain perspective.
For example, the standard Transient Step of a Purple Moon Warrior represented the breaking of a certain shackle on the body and with the perfect body state, one could break the shackles even more thoroughly.
It had been seven days since Tang Ling and Tang Long fell into a coma.
In the past seven days, all the other young geniuses who challenged Hell Ledge fiercely had fallen into a bottleneck state. No one was able to clear the sixth level. With every three levels equalling to one level of difficulty, everyone was held back by the second level of difficulty.
It was understandable yet unexpected.
The understandable point was that even if the difficulty of Hell Ledge was set to normal, regular reserved Purple Moon Warriors could not even clear a single level. Moreover, these young geniuses were facing Hell difficulty, so reaching the sixth level was already considered an amazing achievement.
The unexpected thing was that it was just the sixth level, but the difficulty had already risen to such a ridiculous level, so what else could they expect? Before this, the people looked forward to the geniuses standing out from the rest and crossing the 18th level mark and challenging the levels meant only for Purple Moon Warriors.
Now, it seemed like hope was thin with the Hell difficulty.
The audience’s patience ran out quickly. Little did they know, they were looking at a group of constantly growing young geniuses, so the sixth level should not hold them back for long.
It was then that the audience thought of the heavily injured Tang Ling and Tang Long. If the two of them were still around, would they be able to clear the sixth level?
…
“Good ol’ days,” said Van Persie with a cigar in his mouth while reading the newspaper about the Hell Ledge Challenge.
The newspaper reminded him of when he was young. He used to challenge Hell Ledge in Darkness Port, and back then, he reaped quite a lot of benefits and profits from Darkness Port altogether.
He put the newspaper down and he happily tossed a cigar to his aide before he looked outside the window. The snow was heavy today. Every single snowflake was as big as a palm, and everything outside the window was covered in snow.
He took the cigar out of his mouth and walked to the window, muttering to himself, “This bloody weather…I suppose no idiots would come all the way here to cause trouble, would they?”
However, out of safety concerns, he had to order those rookie soldiers to clean up the piled-up snow in advance for a 50-meter range beneath the wall.
“I’m really looking forward to the day when Tang Ling and Tang Long wake up. Major, who do you think beat them up?” the aide in Van Persie’s room asked. He was also reading the newspaper, so it was only natural that he paid attention to the most popular Hell Ledge Challenge in Darkness Port.
“Who cares about that? I’m very curious too, but after we signed up to be here in Iron-Blooded City, the fancy world behind the wall has nothing to do with us anymore. If you are curious about that, why don’t you concern yourself about what we’ll meet today?” said Van Persie as he took a puff from his cigar and spat out a large smoke ring.
“What else can we meet? The snow is thick…” The aide was casual as he spoke, and he started to cut his cigar. A cigar was considered a precious commodity in Iron-Blooded City.
However, before the aide could light it up, a large tremble came from further away…