The sky in the north was beginning to turn purplish orange, reflecting off the sharp limestone rocks along the Black Dragon Mountains trail. The mountain wind blew fiercely, carrying a fine, choking dust. Yoe Choin, in Moen Kang Yo's body, walked at a steady pace, but his blue, glowing eyes, like those of Blueprint, kept scanning the contours of the road.
"This road's structure is terrible. Without paving, heavy logistics trains won't be able to pass during the rainy season. There's zero drainage,"
Choe muttered under his breath, jotting down his "homework" in his technical memory.
"Foreman, are you thinking about the road when we need to hurry back to base?"
The real Moen Kang Yo's voice sounded irritated in his inner chamber.
"Song Jin and those Mount Hua rats have probably already sent a report to their headquarters. We need time to solve your sonic maze."
"Listen, Boss. A sect without secure trade routes is like a building without an entrance. It's a waste of our coffers if merchants are afraid to pass through here because of our poor security infrastructure,"
Choin replied calmly.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Choin's ears, enhanced by his Internal Finishing Level 3, picked up an unusual sound: the random clanging of metal and terrified screams from behind the rocky hill ahead.
Choin quickened his pace and stopped behind a large boulder. Down below, in a narrow crevice in the road, a merchant caravan was surrounded.
The scene was quite a contrast. Amidst the onslaught of dust, stood a luxurious horse-drawn carriage. Its wood was premium teak with silver-plated carvings, and its curtains were made of shiny silk—a "movable asset" of immense value. Around it, about twenty men in shabby clothes and rusted weapons were harassing the caravan's exhausted guards.
"Small-time bandits,"
the original Moen Kang Yo hissed contemptuously.
"Just ignore them, Foreman. They're none of our business. Saving energy for a major audit is far more important than helping a bunch of rich people lost in the North."
Choin narrowed his eyes.
"You're wrong, Boss. Look at the location. This is still within Evernight Gate's 'Work Area.' The South is already clean thanks to the Black Crow Guild's help, but the North? This is proof of our security management failure."
"So? Let them die and the bandits go. It's no big deal," challenged Kang Yo.
"This is a major problem for the company's—I mean, the sect's—image. If news spreads that a major merchant was robbed right before the eyes of the 'Bastard Son of the Moen Clan,' our public standing will be ruined. Investors and other merchants won't want to pass through here. This is a long-term loss,"
Choin said with his foreman's logic.
Choin stood up straight, adjusting the Black Iron Heavy Sword on his back.
"We'll perform 'Pest Removal' now."
The bandits were laughing loudly as their leader, a stocky man wielding a large machete, tried to pry open the door of the luxurious carriage.
"Get out! Hand over all the gold and beautiful women inside, or I'll burn this luxurious wooden chest!"
the bandit leader shouted.
"Stop!"
Choin's voice was flat, but it had a frequency that cut through the noise of their shouts.
All the bandits turned. They saw a young man dressed practically as a sect member, standing alone without a guard.
"Hey! Look, there's another lost kid!"
one of the bandits burst out laughing.
"You want to be a hero, huh? Look at that blunt sword on your back, are you going to use it to pound rice?"
Choi stepped forward slowly, his blue eyes scanning each bandit.
"Opponent Structure Analysis:
Leaning backward,
Unstable footwork,
zero coordination between units.
These aren't warriors, they're just uneducated construction waste,"
thought Choin.
"You're conducting unauthorized operations in Evernight Gate territory,"
Choi said, drawing his greatsword. The black metal slipped from its sheath, making a heavy sound that rattled the gravel on the ground.
"The SOP here is very clear: Bandits will be treated as waste material that must be disposed of."
"Talking! Finish him!"
the bandit leader ordered.
The five bandits charged at him simultaneously. For the real Moen Kang Yo, it would have been an insult to face such a weak opponent. But for Choin, it was a precision exercise.
Choin didn't use any advanced techniques. He simply shifted his feet slightly, using Static Foundation to dampen the momentum of the first opponent's machete swing.
KLANG!
The bandit's machete broke as it struck the flat of the Black Iron Heavy Sword. Before the bandit could blink, Choin twisted his wrist, slamming the hilt of his sword into his opponent's solar plexus.
BUGH!
The bandit was thrown five meters back, his ribs cracking from the perfect distribution of gravitational force. Choin continued moving like an efficient machine. Each swing wasted no Qi. He used only the mass of his sword and the momentum of his opponents' bodies to take them down one by one.
CRACK! BRAK!
In less than five minutes, fifteen bandits lay on the ground, groaning in pain with broken bones or dislocated joints. The bandit leader trembled violently, his machete falling from his hand.
"Who... who are you?!"
"Me? Just a foreman checking the security on his own road,"
Choin replied coldly. He struck the tip of his sword against the ground, creating a small crack that made the bandit leader faint from pure terror.
Silence fell once again over the limestone valley. Choin sheathed his sword and walked over to the luxurious carriage that had nearly been broken into.
A middle-aged man in slightly disheveled silk clothes stepped out of the carriage, followed by several trembling guards. The man's face exuded an air of authority usually only possessed by the leader of a large merchant clan.
"Young Master... thank you. We owe you our lives,"
the man said with a deep bow.
"If you hadn't come, who knows what would have happened to us and my daughter."
Choin simply nodded curtly, his eyes showing no interest in their extravagance.
"Make sure your guards train harder. Their foundations are too weak to guard such a large asset on the Northern route."
Suddenly, the train curtain parted slightly. A pair of clear eyes stared at Choin from within the darkness of the carriage. A young woman of extraordinary beauty, porcelain-pale skin and jet-black hair, stared back at Choin with an unreadable gaze.
Choin didn't turn around. He didn't care who they were. To him, they were simply "objects" who happened to be on his project site.
"My daughter wants to thank you in person, Young Master—"
The man tried to stop Choin.
"No need,"
Choin interrupted as he began walking away toward headquarters.
"Just inform your fellow traders. This route will soon be under new management. Security will be increased, but the protection tax tribute will also be adjusted to the new quality standards."
The man was stunned to see Choin walk away without asking their names or origins.
When they were far enough away from the site, the original Moen Kang Yo chuckled internally.
"Foreman, you're really strange. That girl is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen in my life, and you didn't even look at her face once."
"A pretty face won't help strengthen the pillars of our sect, Boss,"
Choin replied flatly.
"Those merchants... I can tell from the quality of their fabrics and their horse-drawn carriages that they're no ordinary merchants. But right now, I don't need political connections. I need field data."
Choin paused, gazing at the limestone valley behind him.
"I've realized one thing. This Northern Region is a hole in our defense system. If we want Evernight Gate to become an impregnable fortress, we can't just focus on the center."
He clenched his fists.
"Once the sonic maze is complete, I'll send Gowon and several units of the Black Crow Guild to build a permanent 'Watch Post' here. We'll use limestone from Wind Valley Village to build a strong retaining wall along this path."
"You really want to turn this entire mountain range into a military base?"
asked the real Kang Yo, this time with a hint of hidden admiration.
"Not a military base, Boss. But a stable infrastructure of power. Where merchants feel safe pouring money into our coffers, and where enemies will feel as if they've stepped into a giant cement grinder every time they try to attack,"
Choin hissed.
The night breeze began to blow, carrying the scent of lime and iron. Yoe Choin stepped forward with greater determination. Today's field audit had provided him with a wealth of important data. The Evernight Gate sect's physical renovation was no longer just about buildings, but about controlling the very fabric of life throughout its domain.