Chapter 438, I Have an Announcement
Last time at the port.
Wu Heng had seen the rumored island master. At the time, the man had just returned from the sea, bringing back a group of captured pirates.
His face was rugged, his build burly, and a longsword hung at his waist.
From his appearance, he indeed seemed to fit the profession of a Warrior or a Swordsman.
"Such a famous person, and no one knows his exact profession?" Wu Heng asked curiously.
Sheila Grey pondered for a moment, "Pirates or wanted criminals are usually identified by their professional abilities, attire, and equipment. It's generally close enough."
"Hmm, a pirate leader with a generic profession," Wu Heng commented sarcastically.
Back when he read novels and played games, it was always the special or hidden professions that were the most powerful.
But this one turned out to be the most ordinary.
"That's not the right way to think," Sheila Grey sipped her tea and continued, "Common professions have more complete heritage systems and are better suited for ordinary people to advance."
"You've got a point."
That was indeed reasonable.
Common professions had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was their widespread adoption, complete systems, and low entry barriers for quick proficiency.
Even ordinary families could train Professionals.
But the downside was obvious: generic professions had well-known abilities and characteristics, leaving no surprises.
In battle, your opening moves could be predicted by the opponent.
"Why did you think of asking about him?" Sheila Grey looked up.
"No reason, just felt like he wasn't very engaged with the island. I've only seen him twice," Wu Heng replied casually.
Last night, before going to bed.
He reflected on Gold-Silver Island over the past few weeks.
Suddenly, it felt less safe than before.
Like undercurrents surging, a looming danger was approaching.
"Do you suspect the kidnapping is related to him?" Sheila Grey asked.
The kidnapping investigation ended with the heads removed from the bodies.
Clearly, others were involved.
Now bringing it up again, it was easy to guess Wu Heng suspected the island master.
Wu Heng didn't deny it, "Is it impossible?"
Sheila Grey thought for a moment and said, "Unlikely. He was just granted immunity to become the island master. The Guild and other factions are watching him. If you don't have personal grudges, why would he bother targeting you? Even if there's a grudge, he'd avoid acting now."
Wu Heng thought that seemed reasonable.
He and the island master had never met before. Even if the master received the blank envelope, it wasn't worth risking for 1,200 gold coins.
"Yeah, you're right."
Sheila Grey smiled and brought up another topic, "The Old Barrel Tavern has reopened, but under new management."
"Who took over?"
"Seems like someone from Black Raven's Nest. They're planning to follow the Old Barrel's path and claim a share of the port business," Sheila Grey said lightly.
"Might lead to another gang fight."
"Can't be helped. Most of them are former pirates, and their methods are quite rough."
"True."
The two chatted for a while in the study.
Sheila Grey then got up and returned to her own study.
Wu Heng learned some news, greeted Andviel, and left the Guild to return home.
...…
Back home, after lunch with Minnie.
He went straight to the fourth floor.
Resting for a while in the study, he opened the portal to the zombie world.
On the other side, it was still the remodeled bedroom.
Wu Heng opened the door and stepped out. The hallway was filled with skeletons on standby.
Unsure if there would be further battles last night, he had the skeletons wait at the door to summon in case of danger.
But they hadn't been needed.
"Return outside," Wu Heng ordered.
The skeletons turned, descending the stairs and heading to the area where the skeleton army was stationed.
Wu Heng followed behind, descending the stairs with them.
The station had undergone significant changes since his last return.
The waiting room had been divided into two areas. One was a market for trading supplies, where cautious survivors avoided armed skeleton guards to trade goods.
The other area stored tools, equipment, and exchangeable flour.
At that moment, the station's back door opened.
Qi Hancai, dressed in a white down jacket, entered, brushing snow off her shoulders as she approached. "Why didn't you call me?"
"Just looking around."
Following his gaze, Qi Hancai glanced at the trading area. "Some shelters are using cleared roads to trade food here. In a few days, more shelters might come to trade."
"Hmm, assign more guards at the road junctions. These shelters might bring zombies with them," Wu Heng instructed.
"Understood. Survivors and skeletons are already stationed," Qi Hancai confirmed.
Wu Heng nodded.
Qi Hancai continued, "News from Yared's group: the provincial district traded again. Besides some gold, they've shared blueprints for machine gun bullets. As for cannons and shell blueprints, they said they'd provide those once there's more trust."
Hearing this, Wu Heng raised an eyebrow.
He recalled Deputy Commander Liu's bold claims about uniting and helping more shelters and survivors.
Now it was about mutual trust.
Of course, machine gun bullet blueprints were still valuable.
Even a level 10 Professional couldn't withstand a machine gun. If he could produce them, his combat strength would significantly increase.
With necessary resources like food, negotiations could continue.
"No rush, we'll discuss it later," Wu Heng said calmly.
Qi Hancai added, "The train will bring the blueprints tomorrow morning. I'll hand them over to you then."
"Alright."
Qi Hancai pointed to the trading area and explained the arrangements.
Survivors trading supplies occasionally glanced curiously at the two of them, whispering among themselves.
From their attire and demeanor, the difference was clear.
After finishing their discussion, Wu Heng checked the time—1:20 PM.
Plenty of time left.
"Prepare the convoy. Let's try to clear another batch of zombies before dark."
Qi Hancai nodded, pulling out a walkie-talkie to coordinate the convoy.
Soon, the convoy arrived at the back door. Qi Hancai took the driver's seat, and Wu Heng sat in the passenger seat.
Surrounded by a large group of skeletons, they left the station.
Heading toward an uncleared zombie area.
...…
Roar~!
Snowflakes fluttered down.
A dense horde of zombies surged from alleyways and side streets.
Ragged clothing and decayed flesh, pale from the cold.
Gathering rapidly on the main road into a dense swarm.
Whoosh~!
Overhead, skeleton wyverns roared past.
Dense iron projectiles rained down like a storm on the zombie horde.
Smoke and dust rose sparsely.
The ground trembled.
Zombies farther away, drawn by the explosions, surged toward the road, regrouping.
After three consecutive bombings by the skeleton wyverns.
As the smoke cleared.
The road was left with only scattered zombies and a mess of debris.
"Advance!" Wu Heng ordered.
The skeleton army on standby instantly stood up.
Spears in hand, they advanced along the road.
Zombies nearby were skewered and fell lifelessly amid piles of flesh and broken limbs.
Standing behind them, Wu Heng checked his experience points on the panel.
[Level: 15 (147852/195000)]
The rate of experience gain was decent.
He had reached 147,000.
One more cleanup would bring him to level 16.
Glancing at the shops on both sides of the road.
The skeletons and zombies had finished their battle.
Two level 2 mutated zombie corpses and about 200 evolved zombie corpses were dragged over.
Piled in front of him.
To avoid missing zombie cores, Wu Heng used [Raise Skeleton] on each corpse, obtaining two level 2 cores and 73 level 1 cores.
After collecting them all.
He continued to cast [Battlefield of the Dead] along the road, while Qi Hancai led others into the shops on both sides.
They surveyed the shops for planning tomorrow's tasks.
Once all the corpses were processed.
Night had fallen.
In the north, winter days were short.
Returning to the car, the army headed back to the station.
Back at the station, after a brief exchange with Qi Hancai, Wu Heng opened the portal and stepped through.
...…
It was still bright on the other side, with the sun shining brightly.
The stark temperature contrast made him shiver involuntarily.
Delivering the cores to the alchemy lab, he freshened up and went downstairs.
Downstairs, a group of women were chatting and laughing in the living room.
Minnie, Andviel, and Shanaila, dressed in a pale blue gown with a flower-like crown, looked like a regal queen.
Seeing him descend, all three smiled warmly.
"Master, please wait. Dinner will be ready soon," Minnie said.
"Alright." Wu Heng nodded, turning to Shanaila. "What have you been busy with lately? Haven't seen you in a while."
Shanaila blushed slightly. "Just business matters. You didn't come find me either."
"I've been tied up with a case," Wu Heng said, sitting beside her.
"Guess we're even then," Shanaila replied.
They chatted for a while before skeletons served dinner at the table.
The four sat down together for dinner.
Glancing at the three women chatting, Wu Heng thought for a moment and reached under the table to grab Shanaila's hand.
She panicked slightly but couldn't break free, eventually intertwining her fingers with his.
"Minnie, Andviel, I have an announcement," Wu Heng suddenly said.
Shanaila froze, lowering her head to eat with her free hand.
Minnie, Andviel, and the owl perched on the corner of the table all looked over.
Wu Heng raised their clasped hands and introduced, "Shanaila will now be part of our family."