Castle of Black Iron
chapter-43

Naturally, Zhang Tie didn’t know what the two guys had done after he returned home. When the two were searching the ground, Zhang Tie had already returned home.

As there was one more person at home as well as the baby that would be born in about ten months, Zhang Tie’s parents haven’t been going out in the evening for the past few days; instead, they stayed at home. Recently, supper has been more nutritious than before. Zhang Tie could tell that some dishes, which tasted really good, were made by his soon-to-be sister-in-law.

When he returned, Zhang Tie only found his mom and his soon-to-be sister-in-law at home. After he had finished supper, he saw his dad return covered in sweat while carrying ham on his back. Zhang Tie then knew where his dad had been.

Together with his dad, Zhang Tie dealt with the approximately 20 kg ham and hung it in the kitchen. As he had not smelled this kind of scent in a long time, Zhang Tie strongly inhaled. After having done so, Zhang Tie joked, “Dad, you and mom really play favorites. I’ve been wanting ham since a long time ago, yet you didn’t buy any for me; however, as soon as my sister-in-law arrived, you bought it so soon. Your son really can not match your grandson!”

“No crap!” His dad poked his face with a finger. “If you’re a man, you shouldn’t eat it even after your mom has prepared it!”

“Heh… heh…” Zhang Tie smiled but muttered within his heart, “Your son really did something amazing at school today.” However, Zhang Tie knew that what had happened at school would only make his dad and mom worried; therefore, he decided he would not tell them about it. “Dad, how much was the ham?”

“58 silver coins and 60 copper coins — almost 60 silver coins!” His dad complained bitterly, “It was never this expensive before!”

Zhang Tie was startled. This price was almost equivalent to one month of his dad’s salary. It seemed that his dad and mom had paid a steep price for their grandson. Seeing his dad being gloomy over there, Zhang Tie moved close to him and prattled, “Remember to buy more fruits to provide enough nutrition for the health of the future baby of our Zhang family!”

“Yea, your mom also…” His dad suddenly realized that he had already fallen into Zhang Tie’s trap. Being irritated, his dad chased him around the room and flicked at Zhang Tie’s forehead.

……

Ever since his sister-in-law came to their home, Zhang Tie realized that his plan to earn merit value at home became ineffective. Every place in the house became clean and tidy, thus he could not even find an excuse to do housework anymore. As a result, Zhang Tie had nothing to do and could only smile bitterly. It seemed that he had to find another hidden way to earn merit value.

After supper, his mom and sister-in-law sat close and were knitting. As she had grown up in the house of a tailor, his sister-in-law was definitely good at needlework. Seeing that pair of delicate hands, Zhang Tie’s mom smiled. While helping them cut rags to create insoles, Zhang Tie casually talked to them.

“There are only a few days left before I will leave home,” while cutting the rags, Zhang Tie thought to himself. He only had a few days to accompany his parents in these months. According to the and the in Blackhot City and the entire Andaman Alliance, the house which was acquired through dozens of years of hard work would be inherited by his elder brother. As Zhang Tie was the youngest son, he had to leave both the house and the city and survive outside.

When a young wolf grew up, it had to leave his parents’ lair. If a young eagle was fully grown, then it would have to leave the eagle nest on the cliff, flying into the sky as it strove to survive even in the heavy wind and rain. Even if it was an ant, the moment it could fly, it would have to leave its nest for the future of its descendants. In this age, similar to other living species, human beings had also formulated rules and laws to manage themselves. They started to learn from the animals and species that have shown strong surviving capabilities. The two above Acts were prime examples of what humans had to do if they wanted to survive in this age. They had to move out of the high city walls. With ambition and swords, they had to be brave as they explore the land in search for new places for humans to live. They had to fight alien clans and eliminate the dangerous species as they gradually establish new cities and human settlements that could contain more people. This was the rule of survival in this age; it had nothing to do with morality. In reality, this was what the human race needed to survive.

The cities were safe; however, a city could only contain a limited population, thus not everybody could live in Blackhot City. Using Zhang Tie’s family, which had two sons, as an example, when Zhang Tie, the youngest son, completes his compulsory education and begins to serve in the army, the and the would spring into effect. As his elder brother was going to get married and Zhang Tie would soon enter society, it would not be convenient for him to stay at home, thus there were only a few days left before he would leave.

Over the past few days, Zhang Tie has tried to stay away from this topic. He tried his best to stay as close as he could with his parents and always made jokes to make them happy in hopes to lower the sadness they would feel from the eventual departure. His parents had also tried to avoid this topic. As the two months of outdoor survival training was soon, Zhang Tie knew that other families had already prepared equipment and food for their children.

Without knowing it, Zhang Tie felt the flow of time flew by quickly when he stayed with his parents. The pile of rags was soon finished being cut into pieces. It was currently a bit late, and his mom looked a bit tired. After chatting for awhile, Zhang Tie found an excuse to leave. While yawning, he washed his feet, brushed his teeth, and returned to the attic.

Back in his room, Zhang Tie looked over the triangular wooden plate carefully and finally confirmed that it was made of red pine and had no miraculous or hidden functions. Aside from the special, naturally formed grains on it, there was nothing else worth mentioning about it. If it was placed among kids’ toys, others would simply take it as a building block.

Whenever Zhang Tie thought back to Huck’s pair of large feet and the snake-like, slim man who searched him all over, he would feel goosebumps all over.

“Motherf*cker, two perverts! Haven’t you lived a good childhood? You two play this motherf*cking thing at that age!” Zhang Tie cursed. Throwing the wooden plate directly into the cloth bag, he then tossed it into the sundry box at the corner of the room.

After having thrown the wooden plate, Zhang Tie sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was soon able to find the miraculous, arched gate between his brows. Locking onto it, he muttered to himself, “Enter!”

——Handsome and Magnificent Castle Lord, welcome to the Castle of Black Iron!

“It feels really motherf*cking good!” Inside the Castle of Black Iron, Zhang Tie sucked in a deep breath. Whenever he entered, he would be curious. Despite there only being a few sprouted plants with low aura value, whenever he entered here, he would feel vigorous. Even the air inside was much fresher than that of Blackhot City.

As usual, Zhang Tie checked the basic attributes inside the Castle of Black Iron first.

——Castle of Black Iron

——Length: 1 Krosa

——Width: 1 Krosa

——Aura value: 23.5

——Merit value: 56

——Basic energy storage: 0.5

——Special output: void

There was nothing special about this basic data; the aura value was still increasing due to the growing plants, and merit value did not increase today, as he had neither cleaned the desks and chairs at school nor did he do housework at home.

Closing the basic attributes window, he checked his reclaimed land. The potatoes were growing quite well, and all the niblets had already sprouted and had broken out of the ground. The sprouted potato twigs had already started to bifurcate with the longest having reached a length of almost 10 cm. In contrast, the potato in the “No.1 pit” which he had injected three merit value points for mutation and evolution was not different than before. Zhang Tie assumed that the result of the mutation and evolution might be related to the growth cycle of the species. As only a week had elapsed since he had injected the points, it was reasonable to see no change.

After checking his reclaimed land; Zhang Tie arrived at the small tree once again. Gazing at the Leakless Fruit, he thought back to its growth process. From the size of a grape, it grew to the size of an egg. From dark cyan, it changed to a dark red. Zhang Tie drooled immensely and knew that only four hours were left before it became ripe. Zhang Tie was so excited that he even scratched his face. He then forced himself to calm down next to the tree for a while. With eyes firmly fixed on the Leakless Fruit, he simply squatted by the tree until his legs became gradually numb. Picking himself up from the ground, he started to circle around the tree. During this process, he couldn’t help but glance several times at the time remaining before it became ripe. Unexpectedly, there was still four hours left…

When Zhang Tie couldn’t help but check it again, he suddenly realized. “Zhang Tie! Zhang Tie! You are really this impatient! How could an impatient man like you match Miss Daina in the future? One ear of wheat would grow ripe and dry within one year; a diamond would form into being after hundreds of millions of years; a bean sprout will grow up in water in two days. However, I heard it took God ten thousand years to create the Olive Tree — the king of trees! All wheat straws would be burned into ashes; all bean sprouts would turn into the wastes of human beings and animals. However, a diamond would become a piece of jewelry, and the Olive Tree would become a holy symbol. This explained the difference between patience and impatience. In which way should I live for the rest of my life? As a wheat straw, a bean sprout, a diamond, or an Olive Tree?” he muttered to himself.