“What does that lady look like? Why is she fighting the Spider Emperor?”

The general replied, “She’s reportedly quite young. She always wears a white dress and her weapon of choice is a large cleaver. As for why she’s fighting the Spider Emperor, some say it’s because of the blade she uses. That cleaver seems to be made from the limb of a certain arachne expert, and its natural material is extremely powerful. That might be the reason for her enmity with the Spider Emperor.”

The Wolf King narrowed his eyes, realizing that it was the girl in white he had encountered before. She was extremely mysterious, and no one knew where she had popped up from. Her strength was mediocre, but her grasp of openings and opportunities in battle was simply divine. All of her attacks would go toward the enemy’s weakest points, thereby erupting with terrifying destructive power. The Wolf King already felt some degree of fear toward her, perhaps only second to Qianye’s earth-shattering feather of light.

Such an enemy rampaging through the Spider Emperor’s territory was both good and bad.

The good thing about it was that he wouldn’t need to worry about her existence. In his current state, the Wolf King might not be her match in the wilderness. The young girl would appear at the most opportune of moments, and her sudden ambushes were devastating, to say the least. A blow to his weak point at this time would gravely injure him. No one else in the hall was the girl’s match—none would return no matter how many he sent, not unlike the Spider Emperor’s current situation.

The bad thing about letting her rampage in this manner was her unchecked growth. Her character was enigmatic. On one hand, the girl was a cold murderer, but on the other, she was also extremely greedy. She was willing to risk life and limb just to s.n.a.t.c.h the Wolf King’s purse back then.

Considering her terrifying talents and sufficient resources, her future prospects were unimaginable. Even the Wolf King couldn’t help but tremble at the thought. Fortunately, the Wolf King noticed—during their brief exchange—that her origin power was extremely mottled and impure. It would seem her cultivation talents were mediocre at best, and it was almost impossible for such an origin power to break through to the divine champion realm. As long as she didn’t become a divine champion, there were still ways to deal with her.

The Wolf King’s mood improved somewhat at the thought of this.

“Issue an order to our men, do not provoke her. Retreat immediately on sight.”

The Wolf King’s command surprised the generals. A number of them, including Windwalker, wore serious expressions—they already considered her a great enemy. The others, however, seemed to disapprove of this decision, and some of them even looked discontent. As they saw it, how dangerous could a human girl be? The Spider Emperor’s repeated failures only proved that the old spider was incapable. The Wolf King’s current action implied that he was even inferior to the Spider Emperor, a sign of weakness.

The werewolves were a race that revered the strong, and only an expert who could suppress everyone else would become chief. Hence, some generals with good potential began thinking about replacing him.

With a cold smile, the Wolf King scanned the hall with eyes full of killing intent and bared his fang in a threatening display. This was an indication that he would accept all challenges. The werewolf generals, however, looked away in unison. No one had the intention of challenging him. No matter how weak the Wolf King was at the moment, his remaining strength was still sufficient to suppress any single general at the scene. It was just that he might not win if all of them came at him together.

It was at this time that Windwalker took a step forward and went down on one knee. “We need you, Great Chief. No one can replace your position. Our tribe would’ve scattered to the winds without you, so I, Windwalker, will always remain loyal.”

Even the slowest and most battle-hungry of werewolves had realized the situation at this point. The neutral lands was different from other places in that everyone had to ensure their interests with their own power. The great shaman—who was also the second most powerful expert in the tribe—had fallen without pa.s.sing on his power. This meant that the tribe would be devoid of duke-level fighting power if the Wolf King were to leave as well. The next strongest werewolf was but an ordinary marquis. This kind of strength wasn’t worthy of Totemic Castle. Hence, grouping up to eliminate the Wolf King was a lose-lose situation as the tribe’s entire foundation would be lost.

At Windwalker’s lead, the other werewolf generals also expressed their loyalty. According to werewolf tradition, they would be barred from challenging the Wolf King for a certain period after this display. The dangerous situation thus ended in this manner.

Windwalker’s action surprised the Wolf King. This general was the most intelligent and also the one who threatened him the most. “Very well, your consideration for the tribe is commendable. As a fellow tribesmen, I won’t mistreat you. From tomorrow onward, you’ll have the right to a portion of ancestral power and I shall welcome your challenge anytime.”

Windwalker lowered his head. “I won’t challenge your position within ten years.”

A commotion broke out among the werewolf generals. Windwalker’s words weren’t an indication of weakness. Rather, it meant that he was confident in breaking through to the glorious marquis realm within ten years, a level equal to divine champions among humans.

Another general said, “Great Chief, do we continue escorting caravans for the various merchant companies and cities?”

An angry growl escaped the Wolf King’s throat. “Continue as usual!”

This key question was put forth by an experienced, elderly general. A while ago, the Wolf King had returned with injuries and then went out to fight again. After his second return, he had never once mentioned a counteroffensive against Southern Blue. Then came Luo Bingfeng’s demand for Song Zining.

At this moment, Totemic Castle wasn’t in good condition. The Wolf King’s injuries hadn’t healed, and his army had suffered grievous casualties. He had no more power to maintain normal defensive capacity over a wide area, so contraction was the natural course of action. The blow to the Wolf King’s fame would be devastating if Qianye were to intercept them a couple more times.

It was just that the Wolf King was insistent on this matter, so the generals found it difficult to speak up.

The trade companies have always been the most well-informed in the neutral lands, and the sudden rise of Southern Blue elicited a swift reaction among them. The number of airs.h.i.+ps heading toward the city almost doubled within a few days, and even large cargo vessels were spotted among them.

The greater part of Southern Blue had turned into a construction site, so many of the new workshops could only be placed outside of the city. Dark Flame’s fame had spread far and wide, so ordinary bandits wouldn’t dare to have designs on the place.

The firearms supply chain designed by Song Zining was already starting to take shape. The arrival of Ningyuan Heavy Industries’ three intercontinental cargo vessels produced a commotion among the trade companies who had their eyes set on Southern Blue. When the cargo was being unloaded, some knowledgeable people realized that the goods were actually equipment used for manufacturing large airs.h.i.+ps.

This meant that, after the completion of this factory, the neutral lands would gain the ability to produce intercontinental airs.h.i.+ps for the very first time in history. Such cargo vessels could be quickly modified into destroyer grade wars.h.i.+ps in times of need.

In order to keep the neutral lands’ potential fighting power in check, both Evernight and the Empire had kept tight control on the trade of key airs.h.i.+p components—engines and main cannons. To maintain balance, the neutral lands would receive a limited number of high-output engines and main cannons every year, just enough to maintain its fleet.

It was necessary for both Evernight and the Empire to ensure that the neutral lands possessed a certain level of defensive capacity. At the very least, it would prevent the other side from devouring the territory quickly.

But now, this balance was about to be broken—with the completion of this engine factory, the neutral lands would be free of its restraints for the very first time. On the other hand, many companies had also realized that a terrifying airs.h.i.+p fleet would rise from Southern Blue, an armada capable of sweeping through the Eastern Sea, or even the entirety of the neutral lands.

Under such circ.u.mstances, ordinary army corps were no longer a match for Dark Flame. Only true experts would be able to stop them.

Despite Song Zining’s ostentatious display, all the surrounding experts—including the Wolf King, Luo Bingfeng, the Spider Emperor, and Mask—were unexpectedly quite vague in their response. On the surface, at the very least, Southern Blue lacked the power to defend against a true divine champion, yet no one stood out to suppress it.

The Wolf King had twice been heavily injured, mainly because he had underestimated the enemy. This was especially true of the second a.s.sault, where he jumped into the enemy trap on his own. In the end, he had his defenses half-destroyed by Li Kuanglan and was struck squarely by Qianye’s most powerful shot. The outcome of this battle was more because of his own stupidity than Qianye’s strength.

After the Wolf King’s second injury, all the major powers spared no effort to obtain information about that battle. Following a detailed a.n.a.lysis, most parties had already managed to reconstruct the general situation.

Such a set up would only work once, so most people believed that the Wolf King’s retaliation following his recovery would mean the end for Southern Blue.

Nonetheless, even someone as arrogant and vengeful as the Wolf King didn’t mention anything about attacking Southern Blue. This was clearly abnormal.

Very soon, a rumor began circulating among the traders and major powers that an extremely terrifying expert was hiding within Southern Blue. It was due to his intimidation that the other experts didn’t dare act recklessly.

Most people believed this rumor immediately. Song Zining, Li Kuanglan, and Ji Tianqing all came from shocking backgrounds—it would be strange if they didn’t have powerful reinforcements. If these characters had come on their own, the Wolf King and the other experts could perhaps ignore the support behind them, but provoking several major powers at the same time wasn’t a wise thing to do.

This gave the companies more confidence to invest in Southern Blue. Dozens of factory set-up applications would arrive in front of Song Zining every day. At this rate, Southern Blue would be able to produce a complete airs.h.i.+p within half a month—out of the entire airs.h.i.+p, only the steel plates weren’t being manufactured here.

In their chaotic rush, many companies based in Southern Blue became expectant of a powerful airs.h.i.+p fleet rising over the city. But at this point, no one knew that these components—sufficient to construct an entire airs.h.i.+p fleet—were going to be installed on a single wars.h.i.+p.

A wars.h.i.+p destined to be one of its kind.