The First Order
chapter-1231

The so-called miasma referred to the toxic vapor produced by the accumulation of decomposing leaves and animal carcasses in the forest over the years.

After inhaling the noxious air, one would experience symptoms such as headaches, fainting spells, shock, and itching skin. Fortunately, Zhang Baogen was a supernatural being, so his heart, lungs, and metabolism were already far beyond that of ordinary people. As such, his breathing immediately stabilized after Li Shentan gave him the prepared medicinal herbs.

Little Liren sat at the side, reclining against a large metallic box and eating her snacks.

Over the past few months, Li Shentan and Si Liren had even built a place of their own here. It was a two-story wooden house.

Based on the traditions of the Lian tribe, Si Liren, being a girl, was of a higher status. Therefore, she lived upstairs while Li Shentan stayed on the lower floor. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

It used to be Lian Yi who visited this house daily. But these days, it was Lian Hua who dropped by more often. She made five to six trips a day to deliver clean clothes and deliver them food. The warm-hearted Lian Hua only stopped short of directly saying she was there to check on Zhang Baogen's condition. Her actions made the other men in the village very envious.

At this moment, Si Liren asked while snacking on the preserved fruit Lian Hua had sent over, "Big Brother Shentan, are we leaving this place soon?"

Li Shentan turned around and said with a smile, "Why do you ask that?"

"I sense that your mind isn't focused on this place anymore," Si Liren mumbled. "In the past hour, you've already muttered, 'I wonder how Ren Xiaosu is doing,' twice, so you must be thinking of leaving Xiuzhuzhou. But I wonder, what will happen to Big Sister Lian Yi if you leave? Will you bring them with us? They're really good fighters, so they should be able to help us."

"We can't bring them with us." Li Shentan said with a smile, "It's getting more and more dangerous in the outside world, so it's better for them to stay in Xiuzhuzhou. With the gold and silver corpses' protection, I think it will be very difficult for anyone to travel all the way here and trespass this place."

There was a natural miasmic barrier near Xiuzhuzhou, and the natural environment was relatively harsh as well, so it was not suitable for a massive army to march here. If even a supernatural being like Zhang Baogen was affected, how could normal people not be affected?

Therefore, anyone with half a brain would not send their troops here to die.

Even if someone really did send an army, the Lian tribe would still be more familiar with the terrain than the enemy. There were too many spots where they could hide and retreat to, so no one would be able to find them.

Li Shentan would definitely not abduct the Lian tribe members to leave with him just so he would have more support.

Si Liren looked at Li Shentan and said, "Then when are we leaving?"

"We'll leave when Baogen regains consciousness," Li Shentan said.

"Wow." Si Liren's eyes widened. "Li Shentan, why didn't you ask me to stay behind too? Aren't you afraid I'll encounter danger too if I venture out?"

Li Shentan said with a smile, "Little Liren is so powerful, so how could you meet with any danger?"

"Oh, that's true." Si Liren smiled happily.

That night, Zhang Baogen finally regained consciousness. The moment he opened his eyes, he immediately jumped up and scanned his environment alertly.

Li Shentan sat at the side and poked the fire pit. He said with a laugh, "Grandpa didn't train you for nothing. You're starting to look like you can survive in this chaotic world now."

"Brother Shentan." Zhang Baogen's eyes lit up. "I recall accidentally venturing into a misty forest and passing out. How did you find me?"

"The place where you fainted was not far from the Lian tribe's village. Someone who was controlling their silver corpse to gather medicinal herbs stole you back." Li Shentan said with a grin, "Moreover, the other party seems to want to continue stealing from you, if you get what I mean."

Zhang Baogen immediately shuddered. "Why? Are there thieves here in Xiuzhuzhou?"

"Well, not exactly thieves, just women trying to steal your heart." Li Shentan chuckled and said, "Tell me what happened first. Why did you come to Xiuzhuzhou instead of reaching me with the satellite phone?"

"It seems like the Central Plains has already fallen under the control of the artificial intelligence. When I was investigating the Wang Consortium at Stronghold 73, the entire city's residents seemed to have turned into robots at the same time. Their gaze went completely blank like an empty abyss." Zhang Baogen said with lingering fear, "It wasn't easy for me to escape from their encirclement. At that time, there were still other supernatural beings who were unknown to me in Stronghold 73, but they were caught midway."

Li Shentan frowned. "It looks like this has something to do with the incident in the Pyro Company's Sacred Mountains that Grandpa mentioned previously. The Sacred Mountains is probably a huge nanomachine production base. What happened after that? Baogen, what else did you see?"

"Those people who were controlled did not manage to catch up to me, so they turned around and headed southwest. Their speed wasn't considered fast, probably around the average walking pace of normal people." Zhang Baogen said, "Many of them even scuffed their shoes trying to chase after me, but they didn't even look at their feet. Later on, they even scraped their feet so badly they left bloody footprints on the ground."

"It sounds like when I controlled the Li Consortium's troops back then." Li Shentan sighed and said, "Where did the vehicles coming out of the Sacred Mountains that Grandpa saw head to then?"

Zhang Baogen hesitated for a moment before saying, "They went to all of the strongholds before. It's not only the strongholds; they also went to the grasslands, as well as this uninhabited forest in the south."

In just an instant, Li Shentan realized the danger. "All the residents and refugees in the Central Plains are probably on their way to the Southwest and Northwest already. How many people would that be? Even if the Southwest and Northwest are at their peak military prowess and are willing to massacre these civilians, they still wouldn't be able to stop their advance, right?"

There were always people in the military who joked that bullets were the least valuable item in the military. Due to their quantity, it was not difficult to mass produce them.

A message from weirdo and Legge:

Thank you all for being such patient readers in this tale of Ren Xiaosu. It has been fun translating and reading your comments, and I hope the quality was up to expectations. Every word chosen, and every character's motivations were analyzed to reconcile possible "out of character" behavior. It is my belief that translations should bring across the author's intended message in its most original form.

I know I took a long time clearing up at the end, but I know you'll understand. Yes, we're really reaching the end. My thoughts are that The Speaking Pork Trotter had planned out the story very well, and most side characters were not forgotten. Their backstories also endeared to me as I translated their parts. My personal favorite has to be P5092, depicting how everyone has two sides to them. Sometimes, you just can't judge a person if you don't understand their motivations. Who can forget Hu Xiaobai and Wang Yuexi, two side characters who aren't extraordinary in strength but made a difference in the Prosperous Northwest goal. Zero's story affected me pretty deeply as well.

If you're feeling empty after this, do check out my other translated work: I'm Really a Superstar on Webnovel. (disclaimer: the story might not be for everyone)

Alternatively, you can support me on patreon/legge if you like and appreciate the work I've done.

Also, please check out weirdo's work by searching @ wxw "the grandmaster strategist". He has been a great editor, and I often consult him when parts of the story did not add up.

Thank you, :')

-translator, Legge

Thanks for sticking with us for so long, and I hope you enjoyed the story!

-editor, weirdo

Video resources for The First Order:

https://youtu.be/LFq6fiMqXS4

https://youtu.be/F-yUuSUvm7c

https://youtu.be/v0i8m5EPWz8

Now that such a terrifying situation nobody could have expected had arisen, the enemies the Southwest and Northwest would have to face might even outnumber the bullets they had.

Even if all their military personnel were marksmen, with each bullet representing a kill, their bullets would still run out before they could finish killing the enemies.

Moreover, they couldn't possibly achieve a constant one-hit kill rate either.

Li Shentan stood up. "Baogen, recuperate here. It's no longer suitable for you to participate in what's coming."

Zhang Baogen was stunned. "What about you, Brother Shentan?"

"Little Liren and I will leave tonight." Li Shentan said, "Liren, let's set off."

Little Liren, who was eating some pork jerky, was stunned. "Is it so urgent?"

"Mhm, if we leave at night, the Lian tribe shouldn't discover that we've left," Li Shentan said.

They did not have much luggage here either. After Si Liren sneakily stuffed a bunch of snacks into the metallic box containing Chen Wudi, she hefted it onto her back.

It was as though she was asking her Big Brother Wudi to help guard her snacks.

However, just as Li Shentan was about to walk out of the house, he suddenly turned back.

He took out a pen and paper and seriously wrote down a list of things to take note of: "While the garlic paste is drying, make sure it's done so over a weak flame. On top of that, flip the garlic paste over every hour for eight hours…

"During the second distillation of the wine…"

Li Shentan left a note of this because he was worried the Lian tribe would forget the process after he left.

At that time, if any of the tribespeople were to fall sick again, the villagers would be left scratching their heads on how to treat them.

He continued writing: "Remember, if you encounter any outsiders, you must use the gold, silver, and copper corpses to face them. Take care not to approach the carcasses of strange animals."

He mentioned this because he was worried that other nanomachine-controlled creatures would approach the village and take control of the Lian tribe members.

If they used the gold, silver, and copper corpses to do battle instead, there would be nothing to worry about. No matter how powerful the nanomachines controlled by the artificial intelligence were, they could not take control of those who were already dead.

It wasn't until he was done writing all these reminders that he heaved a long sigh of relief.

Si Liren watched from the side. She realized Li Shentan had not been so concerned about something in a long time.

The last time he was so concerned about others was when he helped Ren Xiaosu.

"Big Brother Shentan, why don't we stay?" Si Liren said.

"No." Li Shentan said with a smile, "We have to go to the Central Plains to confirm that Grandpa is safe and sound. Besides, there's still things we need to see to."

"OK." Si Liren said, "I'll listen to you. But aren't you going to say goodbye to Big Sister Lian Yi first?"

"No." Li Shentan shook his head.

"Where are we leaving from?" Si Liren asked.

"We can't go by the village entrance." Li Shentan said, "Lian Yi's gold corpse is standing guard over there. Let's climb out of Auntie Lian Yun's house."

When Zhang Baogen realized that they were really leaving, he turned anxious. "Hang on, Brother Shentan, wait for me to recuperate for one more night. I'll go with you all."

Li Shentan said with a smile, "Why do you still want to go out there? You're not someone who likes to fight. Isn't it better to stay here in this paradise? Who knows? This might be your destined home."

Before leaving the village, Li Shentan looked back at this paradise and thought this had probably been the happiest time of his life.

There was little to worry about and no need to face any danger. When he performed magic tricks for the women and aunties, they would all look at him in fascination and applaud like children.

Over here, there was thickly sliced smoked meat that was really delicious. While it looked greasy, it wasn't actually oily at all, and one's mouth would be filled with the aroma with just one bite.

The people here were also honest, and they liked suntanning the most.

If there were a chance, Li Shentan was willing to return here after the crisis was over.

Initially, Li Shentan wanted to go to the south to see typhoons. However, he was held back and settled down at this place.

A traveler held back by the scenery along the way would no longer worry about getting to his destination.

However, Li Shentan knew better than anyone else that no one would be spared in this era. Someone still had to do the things that needed to be done.

He still owed Ren Xiaosu a promise.

"Come on, let's go," Li Shentan said with a laugh.

In the darkness of the night, Li Shentan crept out of the village. It was much easier for Little Liren since she could fly.

However, Grandpa Gold Corpse, who was supposed to be guarding the entrance of the village, was standing outside the village's wooden fence and waiting for Li Shentan.

In the deep of the night, Grandpa Gold Corpse did not look scary at all. Instead, he even seemed quite amiable.

However, Li Shentan knew it was only amiable on the surface. This gold corpse's combat power was so solid it could easily defeat most supernatural beings in the Central Plains.

Footfalls came from the forest. Lian Yi looked calmly at Li Shentan. "I knew from the moment that friend of yours was brought back to the village that you were leaving. Why are you leaving?"

Li Shentan said in seriousness, "I have reasons for why I need to leave."

"Then will you come back?" Lian Yi said, "Say it to that box. I know you wouldn't want to lie to that person in it."

Over the past few months, Lian Yi had also gotten to know Li Shentan better.

Li Shentan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Why do I have to say it to him? This has nothing to do with him, and he doesn't care either."

"You were indeed lying to me," Lian Yi said.

"How about this? Let's have a coin toss. If it's heads, you'll let me leave." Li Shentan said, "If it's tails, you win, and I'll stay."

Lian Yi thought for a moment and said, "No, if it's heads, I'll go with you. If it's tails, you stay."

Li Shentan was stunned for a moment. He took out a silver coin from his pocket and flicked it into the air with his thumb. Lian Yi's gaze followed the silver coin as it flew up.

As the silver coin spun in midair, it created a pleasant ringing.

But as the silver coin rotated, Lian Yi's gaze gradually dimmed.

Li Shentan sighed. Actually, he had hypnotized supernatural beings before, but it was still quite difficult to hypnotize a highly skilled supernatural being like Lian Yi.

It was not that he was not strong enough, but that each person's willpower was up to them to lose control of. If you wanted the other party to hand over their subconsciousness, you would have to be very much stronger than them.

But it was different now. Li Shentan knew that the easier it was for Lian Yi to be hypnotized by him, the more it meant she trusted him.

Hypnotizing someone who trusted him definitely made him a little upset. However, Li Shentan knew that even though this might be the first time, it would definitely not be the last.

Off to the side, Si Liren said, "Didn't you promise you would no longer hypnotize good people in Big Brother Wudi's presence?"

Li Shentan turned around to her and smiled. "But this time, I'm doing it for the greater good. I believe he'll understand."

After that, Li Shentan said to Lian Yi, "Go back and sleep now. When the first rays of sunlight hit your face tomorrow at sunrise, you will awaken from this trance…. It's not that I don't want to stay, but there's something else I need to do."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shentan headed north.

Si Liren floated next to Li Shentan and said softly, "There are tears on Big Sister Lian Yi's face."

Li Shentan froze for a moment, but he did not turn around to look back.