Infinite Fighting

Claude City.

A relatively wealthy city in the Niels Empire.

The reason for its prosperity is simple: the railway has been built here, and the area is rich in resources, making it well worth developing.

The related economic impact is countless.

Major guilds have moved in and established strongholds there.

The Adventurers' Guild is one of them.

Kenji's team handed in the recording stone here, and after confirming the mission information, they received the bounty coins.

The reward was very generous, because the bear had killed enough people that the bounty had reached 132 gold wheels.

A rough calculation shows that one gold wheel is enough for a family of three to live comfortably for a year.

This is the food ration for a family of three for 132 years.

This is how adventurers make money.

After the distribution, everyone received a share.

Even Zhang Ji received one, and the largest quantity at that, a full thirty gold wheels.

Zhang Ji did not refuse and put the money away after receiving it.

Bounty missions do not include materials for the bear itself, as the missions only involve hunting it.

The materials can be sold again, and their value is no less than that of the task itself.

After receiving the money, Mers went to replenish his arrows, ammunition, and energy blocks, while Kenzie went to buy supplements and maintain his weapons.

Gray chose to go to the Nightingale Pavilion to relieve his stress.

Gaia plunged into the Warlock Guild, intending to buy two more spell models to study.

Lorna sent some of the money home and then went to buy skincare products.

Delina didn't have many expenses; she mainly focused on repairing her pots and pans so she could have a big meal.

Zhang Ji and Yes, or rather, the Moon Elf whose real name is Dimitri, arrived at the tavern together.

Zhang Ji never drinks alcohol, but they sell milk here.

While drinking his milk, Zhang Ji was also examining the bounty poster in his hand. The amount was very high, and it even promised a whole bunch of other things, any one of which would be priceless.

It was released by Dario Ward, the dwarf king of the Nasir Plateau.

A treacherous thief broke into his bedchamber and stole his jeweled hammer.

He offered a reward for the return of the gem hammer.

Some say the Dwarf King orchestrated the whole thing himself, because so many people had asked him to forge weapons over the years that he was annoyed and that's why he claimed his gem hammer was lost.

However, Zhang Ji knew that he was not lying.

The thief who stole the gem hammer was right across from Zhang Ji.

"I gave him the Moon Clan's precious wine, a fine brew made from the Moon Spring, which contains the power of the Moon God. Even though he was already a fifth-tier legend, he still slept for a day and a night." Yes told Zhang Ji about his treasure-stealing story. He said, "The Moon Stone that built the Moon Spring has lost its divine power. If this continues, we will not be able to drink the spring water to nurture new races, and extinction will be inevitable. Therefore, I risked doing this."

“Then you are now capable enough to repair your Moon Spring,” Zhang Ji said.

Although the Gem Hammer requires energy to pry open information in the material world, if used properly, this spacetime artifact can easily move information in the material world with just a fulcrum, even without the ability to step on one foot with the other.

Understanding the material world can greatly reduce the difficulty of using it.

For example, the energy needed can be obtained by first creating substances capable of generating their own energy.

By creating a fictional material that can absorb soil and transform it into battle qi energy, one essentially possesses a large source of battle qi, allowing for more experimentation and the manipulation of more rules of the material world.

As it progresses, its size can increase exponentially with almost no limit.

This is also why the material world appears fragile in the face of the rules of space and time.

The Key to Dimensions was actually used quite crudely by Augustine in the first place.

However, it's not necessarily that he doesn't know how to use it; it's just that the progressive process would be very disruptive. He estimates that before he can figure it out, he will be discovered by an advanced civilization in the universe, suppressed on the spot, and have his [Dimensional Key] confiscated.

“But there is another problem. The disappearance of the Moonstone’s divine power may be related to the Moon Goddess. Do you know anything about her situation?” Yes said.

The Moon Clan all worship the Moon Goddess.

Theoretically, as long as the moon goddess is alive, the moonstone will not lose its divine power, but now that its divine power is about to be exhausted, it is very strange.

So Yes now asked Zhang Ji, who was also a deity.

“I am not a god of your world, and I do not know their situation,” Zhang Ji said, shaking his head.

A god who still requires faith clearly hasn't reached the K level and doesn't possess the true eternal nature of will and information.

Zhang Ji felt that it might only be SSS level.

Such beings could potentially disappear or die suddenly if they encounter certain events.

"Are you from out of town?" Yes asked in surprise.

“It’s also possible that I arrived in this world before you,” Zhang Ji said.

When his consciousness particles were scattered across this spacetime, he couldn't yet ascertain the exact circumstances, but it certainly hadn't been just a day or two. Billions of years were but a blink of an eye. Time, in Zhang Ji's realm, held significance, but only those spanning trillions of years truly held great significance. Yes didn't quite understand Zhang Ji's words, but considering Zhang Ji's special circumstances, he didn't ask any further questions.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Ji removed the silencing barrier around them, allowing the outside noise to enter their ears.

Zhang Ji stared at the woman with animal ears posing seductively on the stage, lost in thought.

“Nils is moving very fast. Even the orcs on the high slopes and plains have been brought under his rule. I wonder when they will reach the Moon Forest,” Yes suddenly remarked.

The rise of the Niels Empire was not a very long process, taking less than fifteen years in total.

Just over a decade ago, a genius emerged out of nowhere: Ignazio Gardner, the son of a viscount. At that time, Ignazio displayed astonishing talent at the academy, making rapid progress in both magic and martial arts. In just two years, he reached the pinnacle of the academy, surpassing even many professors.

The emperor at that time was only nineteen years old.

Then he chose to join the army and fight.

At that time, the corrupt Kingdom of Danki was severely embezzling military pay, with officials at all levels colluding with each other, even imprisoning this legendary emperor who had made great contributions.

Then came his enlightenment at Longchang.

If the country is no good, he'll just build a new one himself.

After discussing with his best friend, he escaped from prison and took control of a city on the spot. In just one year, he led his troops to attack the palace, overthrow the corrupt Danchi Kingdom, and established the new Niels Empire. Subsequently, the entire country was transformed into a war machine according to his will, sweeping across the land.

In about twelve years, a colossal empire spanning the sea and encompassing two continents was created.

Ignazio's strength was constantly mythologized during this process, with descriptions of him smashing a mountain with a single punch becoming commonplace.

When there was no road during the march, Ignazio could simply cut a path with his sword, which led to him being described as an invincible god.

It's impossible to determine exactly how strong he is, but judging from his record, he's at least an S-class legend.

It certainly has the destructive power to destroy cities and countries.

"They should only move forward after the infrastructure for transportation and communication catches up. They've already eaten their fill of this piece of meat," Zhang Ji said.

When the Origin Civilization first expanded outwards, it encountered bottlenecks. Management was very difficult. Although its communication and transportation technologies had reached the required standards, the transmission of orders was still slow.

So in the end, it wasn't people managing it at all; it was all done by AI and robots.

If the maintenance of order and the operation of rules really rely on beings with too much personal emotion, it is impossible to achieve rational and rapid expansion.

The fact that the ancient operating model of the Niels Empire was able to conquer such a large territory and continue operating is entirely due to the terrifying nature of Ignazio's personal beliefs.

Even so, there are still many internal conflicts that cannot be resolved.

No matter how many nobles are enfeoffed, this problem will not be solved; it will only further bloat the system, eventually making it too powerful to control.

Of course, it's unlikely that it will fall apart.

To reiterate, when an individual's power overwhelms everything, at least most of the time, the state apparatus will operate according to the individual's whims.

If you want to divide them up, you'll have to beat Ignazio first.

Otherwise, whoever uses this banner will have to be purged of the local nobility.

In the evening, everyone returned to the hotel as agreed, ready to divide the money again.

This time, the money distributed wasn't the bounty, but the proceeds from selling the materials from the two Viper Bears.

Everyone else arrived, but Gaia was the only one who did not return.

“I’m afraid Lord Gaia is looking down on our little bit of money. After all, he’s a nobleman. What kind of money hasn’t he seen?” Gray said, somewhat dissatisfied with Gaia’s failure to show up.

Missing the deadline to collect the money is somewhat disrespectful.

He usually seems out of place with the team, always showing off his limited knowledge and trying to make himself seem more noble.

Despite saying that, Gray still helped Gay put away his share, intending to give it to him personally later.

Despite their constant bickering, the two have the best relationship in the team.

They were friends who would risk their lives for each other, but they just couldn't stand each other's attitudes toward life.

Good brothers are like that; they look down on you on one hand, but think of you in everything on the other.

They initially thought Gaia was just temporarily delayed by some matter and would return soon, but Gaia did not return even by the next morning.

After making inquiries, the team quickly obtained information from the Warlock Guild.

“He was taken away by Count Mokel’s men,” Yes said. “It must be related to his brother; it seems they want to get something from Gaia.”

Gaia also has a simple story.

He was once the direct heir to the family title, but due to some disputes, he relinquished his inheritance rights and gave them to his younger brother, Giles Nek.

Giles was able to rise to power because he allied himself with Count Mokel Ferguson.

Now, it seems that Count Mokel, having failed to obtain anything from Giles, intends to seek cooperation with Gaia again.

"So what's his situation now?" Kenzie frowned. "Why didn't he send anyone to notify us?"

"They probably don't plan to bother us. Captain, you know him, he's such a sentimental person," Gray said, shrugging.

“In any case, we should inquire about it and make preparations. We’ll visit Earl Mokel this afternoon,” Kenzie said.

Although the other party was an earl, Kenzie's strength as a hall-of-fame adventurer gave him the qualifications and prestige to transcend his noble status and earn the earl's respect. (End of Chapter)