Castle of Black Iron

The special pass that Lieutenant Colonel Labelli gave Zhang Tie was a certificate used by the military officers of the Ministry of Supervision of Iron Horn Corps in special tasks. It contained Zhang Tie’s photo, the duration of the certificate, military rank and code, except for a name. With this pass, Zhang Tie could be low-key in this city. Very few people would pay attention to him in case of troubles and embarrassment.

After leaving Barley’s residential area and reaching an appointment with Barley about the next meeting time, Zhang Tie went to Grandma Teresa’s Orphanage.

Walking in the familiar street of Blackhot city in the cold and silent evening, Zhang Tie had mixed moods inside.

Over the past one year, the Blackhot city seemingly had changed a lot; however, it didn’t change actually.

Bagdad joined the army and became a soldier of No. 39 Division. Barley and Sharwin, who had not passed the physical examination, opened a small firm in Blackhot City, the shareholders of which were the seven members of the brotherhood.

Barley reached an agreement with First Lieutenant Clarke of Logistics Department of No. 39 Division whom he had met once before and started to do business on the treatment of junks of the Logistics Department of No.39 Division.

Zhang Tie, who had stayed in the Logistics Department of the Iron Horn Corps for a period, knew it clearly that many items that were overdue or couldn’t meet the requirements of the army should be treated like junks in the strict military supply system of Norman Empire. Some of these junks were useless; some of them were still very useful in the folklore after processing.

First Lieutenant Clarke had the disposal right of some wasted weapons, which should be sold in the price of scrap iron according to the regulation of Norman Empire. However, actually, they were very profitable.

Take a standard 1.57 m-long single hand long sword used by the army of Norman Empire as an instance. If the tip of the blade was broken or a part of the blade was severely damaged, this sword would be discarded as useless. Barley’s team took over this kind of sword from Clarke. After polishing it into a 1 m-long common sword, even a short sword or a dagger, they could still make a profit. As commoners had less requirements on weapons than military, neither did they have so many standards. Their only requirement was that this weapon was available. However, the military products of Norman Empire were always very high. Even though it was thinner than before, as long as it was available, it would have a high demand.

Barley and Sharwin were running a mini workshop. Besides some sets of grinding machines and metal processing tables, they also invited some assistants. They processed the discarded military products here. After that, they sold the new ones. Last year, excluding expenditures, they even made over 100 gold coins.

As Barley and Sharwin have just had a meal with Clarke in Avenue Bright and bribed him, Barley estimated that they could make twice the amount of money in the next year.

"Before leaving Blackhot City, I gave some money and resources to Barley and the other friends; they didn’t input all the money in this business; in Barley’s words, the secret of making money is not to always expand your business but to be familiar with your business. Without a solid foundation, one might suffer a loss no matter how much you spent."

Speaking of business, Zhang Tie had to admit that the fat was born to be a businessman. "This guy is much sharper than me on doing business."

"If I don’t come back, Barley might continue to do his business here; however, Barley had to consider whether to stay in Blackhot City or not given the current critical situation."

Zhang Tie had already told Barley about the reason that he came back. Blackhot City was not a place to stay for long. Once the 3rd holy war broke out, Blackhot City, which was on the border of Blackson Humans Corridor, would become the frontier of the war or be destroyed in a wink. Otherwise, as long as other places were involved in the war, they would not be able to retreat from Blackhot City. The long and narrow terrain of Blackson Humans Corridor determined the fate of Blackhot City in the coming holy war.

After leaving from here, they might have to say goodbye to Blackhot City forever. Although Barley believed in Zhang Tie but he had to negotiate with his family members solemnly about that.

Any family would be very serious on making a decision which was involved with the fate of the whole family.

Zhang Tie told Barley that as long as his family wanted to leave out of here, he would be responsible for their migration certificates. Barley would go for Sharwin tomorrow. As to other brothers, he could only notice them when they would come out of the barracks in a few days.

Zhang Tie had about one month to manage things here from now to the next February.

After coming to the orphanage of Grandma Teresa, Zhang Tie was amazed that the name-plate of the orphanage had disappeared. The orphanage was closed. Using his dark vision, Zhang Tie could see the playground of the kids was covered with packs of goods. The orphanage seemingly became a warehouse.

Seeing the light coming from the small room of the night watchman, Zhang Tie walked forward and slightly knocked at the door of the room. After a few seconds, he received no response; therefore, he knocked once again.

This time, he heard some noises in the room. After a few seconds, the night watchman pulled open a palm-sized iron window and showed half of his face with a vigilant look while lifting his fluorite lamp towards outside.

"Whom are you looking for?"

"I want to know where are Grandma Teresa and those kids?"

"You mean that old nun who adopted a lot of orphans?"

"Yes!"

After thinking for a short while, the man in the room replied, "They’ve moved away two months ago."

"Are they still in Blackhot City?"

"Not anymore. After disposing the real estate here, that nun left with those orphans by airship!"

"Hmm, thanks!"

Zhang Tie turned around and left the orphanage. After hearing the night watchman’s words, Zhang Tie let out a sigh. Besides Patron School, nobody would do that.

When Zhang Tie met Crell in Ice and Snow Wilderness, who was familiar with Grandma Teresa very much, he started to doubt that Grandma Teresa’s status in the Patron School might not be that humble. It seemed that Grandma Teresa had other missions to accomplish in Blackhot City, for instance, to seek for orphans who were suitable to the cultivation system of Patron School. Given the current situation, it was indeed like that.

Whatever, after knowing that Grandma Teresa and those orphans left Blackhot City, Zhang Tie finally became reassured. If Grandma Teresa and those orphans had not left, Zhang Tie planned to take all of them away this time.

After leaving the orphanage, Zhang Tie walked on the tranquil street alone. He wanted to find an inn; however, Beverly’s face appeared in Zhang Tie’s mind at once, making his heart race.

"Perhaps, I can give her a surprise!"

With a wink, Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he sped up.

...

Half an hour later, Zhang Tie appeared outside a apartment in a lane near Red Maple Avenue in the north of Blackhot City.

Zhang Tie stood in front of the building and watched the lighted window while raising his head. He remembered that Beverly’s family lived in the 6th floor, namely the top floor. Beverly’s room was adjacent to the balcony facing this lane.

As he was going to try a new thing, he felt excited inside. After looking around and finding nobody was near him, he instantly sprung up from the ground onto the balcony of Beverly’s apartment like an owl. In the air, he just pressed his one hand onto the windowsills on two floors before springing up once again. He then appeared in the balcony of Beverly’s apartment silently.

It was very easy for a LV 8 powerhouse like Zhang Tie to do this.

The balcony directly led to Beverly’s room. There was a glass door and a window between the balcony and Beverly’s room. As it was winter, the window and the glass door were covered with deep, thick curtains. The glass door was also closed. After twisting the handle of the glass door, Zhang Tie opened the door, only causing a silent sound, "click". He then flashed inside the room at once before closing the door.

Using his dark vision, Zhang Tie could see clearly the dark-pitched room like how commoners saw things in the daytime.

It was a small, tidy room. It was only a bit more than 10 square meters. On the clothesline pole were hanging some woman’s clothes, including two sets of nursing uniforms, some pairs of delicate underwear and sizable bras. The whole room was filled with a familiar smell of a young girl.

As this apartment was equipped with heating units, the room was not cold. In a night skirt, Beverly was sleeping on the bed in a sexy manner...