935 The Return of the King

Although the Pampas Empire was situated in South America, with rich vegetation and fertile soil, there were many mutated beasts in the tropical jungles. Furthermore, the people of the Pampas Empire were not adept at growing plants; their living conditions were rather arduous, especially in terms of food. They lived in a massive tropical jungle but could only compete for food with the mutated beasts. Many people in the Pampas Empire would die from hunting and finding food. Their abominable living conditions caused them to become agile and brave, but this also severely restricted their population growth. They had never been able to develop. However, if they were able to receive resource support from the Federation…

Ma Dong had just done some homework. The population of the Pampas Empire did not exceed one million people, which was similar to the population of Tianjing. Their territory was not very big either. With such a small place, even if he did not know the current situation there like the back of his hand, he knew the gist of it.

To the Pampas Empire, they most urgently lacked food.

At that moment, he aggressively patted his chest. "Relax, Elder Brother. As long as I am alive, I will feed all the people in the Pampas Empire! I will not dare to say that I can feed everyone luxuriously, but I will definitely not allow anyone to die from famine! As for the transmission array, I will find someone to resolve it today. It's great that we are already connected to the Amazon Empire. Connecting to the Pampas Empire will be a minor matter!"

He was promising food for one million people. Even Aiolos could not help but be moved by this generosity. If Ma Dong was actually able to live up to his words, he would solve one of Aiolos's biggest problems. He was only afraid that when he evolved to a higher power, its effects on his inner demons would be reduced significantly.

"If anything happens to the New World, you can find me at any time, as long as I am still on Earth. Besides, there are many other soldiers with outstanding endowments in the Pampas Empire. I will give you special privileges to the honorable soldiers in the Pampas Empire. As long as they are willing, you can invite them at any time."

Aiolos looked at Ma Dong and slowly said, "You are Wang Zhong's brother, so you are my brother."

At Aiolos's stage, he definitely did not only look at appearances. He could sense this person's soul. Although his strength was low, his willpower was strong. He also knew that he was not adept at business; neither was Wang Zhong.

To Aiolos, being able to obtain a stable source of resource support, especially food support, would be an extremely massive help to the overall development of the Pampas Empire. Moreover, to the New World, they had Aiolos, a terrifying source of external assistance who could move mountains, as well as allies from the Pampas Empire with valiant combat levels that even the Kaiser Empire feared. They were even able to rapidly build a new, powerful army made up of people from the Pampas Empire, bringing stability and solid strength to the New World.

Aiolos left, while the New World had gained a firm foothold in the Federation. Furthermore, their appetite grew bigger as they became more daring. They also became more unreasonable in their actions.

They did not care about any family rules or laws in the Federation. Ma Dong could do what others could not; the New World could also do what others could not. They had the support of Wang Zhong, who came from the Holy City, as well as an even more terrifying and mysterious being who seemed to have evolved to a higher power and was able to kill three Heavenly Souls in seconds. Even if the other families were slapped in the face by Ma Dong, they could only choose to submit to humiliation for now, especially the Gui Family. Ma Dong was not foolish and would not make enemies everywhere. He mainly targeted the Gui Family, but Gui Family was actually able to endure. They were not like the Gui Family they once knew.

Other than the threat of their military power, what was more frightening was the various bargaining chips that Ma Dong had in hand. He had pioneered trade relations with the citizens of the empires. As a result, the trade of resources between the Federation and the empires allowed the New World to rapidly accumulate a large amount of wealth as well as technology and various resources from the Holy Land. All these were once monopolized by the various great families and were divided among them. They all had hidden rules: you cannot touch what is mine, and I will not touch what is yours. Everyone lived peacefully together, but Ma Dong did not care about all these. As long as he had enough profits, he would do anything without any care for these rules. He did not understand them and would not learn about them either. After all, he had a pathway to the Holy Land. He was this amazing. If the other families are not happy, then come and fight me!

Cries of discontent rose all around from the various great families, but they realized that there was no movement from the Holy Land. Thus, they could only endure. However, the civilians responded with cheers. Too many small powers started to gather at Tianjing and New World City. No matter whether it was in terms of culture, economy, population size, or strength, massive changes were happening every day. They rapidly progressed every single day.

In the dark, there were voices preparing and making predictions on whether such ostentatious methods would allow Tianjing and the New World to reach the highest, most-dazzling peak in a short amount of time. They were just afraid that their foundation was unsteady. After all, they had offended many great families in the Federation. They would eventually encounter a great disaster that would destroy them.

But this was no more than a prediction. Indeed, the prosperous New World was earning profits, and there seemed to be no signs of decline. Tianjing, which the New World controlled, had become the new rising power.

To Ma Dong, Gong Yi, and the rest, the New World had only just begun.

...…

Everything that happened in the New World had nothing to do with Wang Zhong. It would be much stabler to have Aiolos on guard compared to him. Lao Wang had finally returned to the base. It felt as if every mission he embarked on was a near-death experience.

He had decided to return to the Holy City via the transmission pathway at the military grounds outside Tianjing. Before he left, he said his goodbyes. Many of his old friends and seniors came to send him off.

Old Greene, Old Potter… There was no doubt that these two old men were benefactors in Wang Zhong's life. They had given him a lot of help and affirmation and appreciated him greatly. Their granddaughters also had countless ties with Wang Zhong. However, Old Greene would still urge Wang Zhong to take good care of Scarlet to his heart's content, while Old Potter could only stare speechless.

It had been two months since he had left the northern base at the Holy Battle battlefield. At first, he thought that after he returned, most of the people would have forgotten about this person called Wang Zhong, other than the Wanderlust Team. However, Wang Zhong did not expect to be warmly welcomed when he returned to the base.

"Is that Wang Zhong from the Wanderlust Team back?"

"Damn, he's a god. We have to take a look!"

"Let's go and watch. I want to see whether he has three heads and six arms!"

Not only were his friends from the Wanderlust Team here, the dimensional humans, as well as countless members of ordinary exploration teams who once looked down on the Wanderlust Team and Wang Zhong in the past, were here as well. They had once looked down upon them as they did not feel that they had any extraordinary qualities yet had repeatedly achieved great success. They thought the Wanderlust Team's luck was amazing, and people were jealous of them. However, they might have been lucky once or twice, but were they only lucky if they had succeeded three or four times?

In particular, after what happened at the Shadow Moon Fortress, all the exploration teams completely changed their opinion of Wang Zhong. Not only was it because of the pressure exerted by the dimensional humans in an attempt to pay their debt of gratitude, they also sincerely respected what Wang Zhong had done.

What kind of person would dare to challenge a Warlock Saint all by himself? What kind of person could dive deep into the territory of the Octopus people and frolic about while being chased by several dozen Saints among the Octopus people and then leave the Octopus people in a tizzy before escaping? Everyone in the Exploration Team Department admitted that they did not have the ability to do so, but this was definitely something that luck alone could not explain. Wang Zhong was this amazing. You could not help but give in.

Furthermore, some children of the great families spread the word that Wang Zhong was facing a Heavenly Soul expert on Earth all by himself. Furthermore, he was outnumbered two to one. His achievement of killing two great Heavenly Souls was worth absolute respect from everyone.

Although there were often legends in the Holy City about great Holy Disciples who killed Heavenly Soul experts that were of a higher realm than them, they were simply rumors without any evidence or eyewitnesses. These rumors could not even compare to vivid accounts of Wang Zhong's appearance.

With a powerful combat level, he could kill Heavenly Soul experts who were of a higher realm than him and risk his life to save his dimensional-human allies. The rumors even said that he was the one who had invented the incredibly popular Soul Power Circuit, and messed around with their enemies, the Octopus people, all by himself. Ordinary people could not even imagine doing all these. It was said that only military achievements could test the standard of an expert. No one would be jealous of this kind of person. Instead, they could only revere and respect him. Furthermore, at this point, everyone now realized how Wang Zhong had defied the heavens and risen. It had only been a year since he entered the Holy Land, but he had grown from a small Heroic Soul to a Semi-Heavenly Soul. Furthermore, he had a powerful combat level and had many legends surrounding him. He demonstrated his extraordinary skills in the Holy Battle.

In the past, they had looked at him with a critical gaze. They did not think much of him with their doubt and disdain. However, once they had evened out their mentality and thought carefully about this, the rate at which he had risen was terrifying and simply defied the heavens.

It was said that a Holy Battle was where legends were founded. Now, Wang Zhong was the greatest legend in the northern battlefield. He was at the apex of his power in the Exploration Team Department. Moreover, among the main forces in the battlefield, even various leaders like the Teachers and Great Teachers all knew Wang Zhong's name. They had even made Wang Zhong's name even more mysterious and mighty as a result of adding vivid details from their own imagination.

Wang Zhong was very calm toward these legends. A false reputation would bring many benefits to Ma Dong and the rest as they supported New World City. But at the same time, there would be many inconveniences. The pros and cons canceled out; in the end, it was almost useless.

If he truly wanted to control himself and control the fate of the New World, he definitely could not rely on these false reputations. He would have to rely on genuine strength.

Various great exploration teams had maintained good relations with the Wanderlust Team. Earlier, they were not willing to make some concessions as they had misgivings about the dimensional humans. Now that Wang Zhong had returned and as various legends developed, those who had been unwilling were now willing to work with the Wanderlust Team. No matter whether it was in terms of reputation or strength, the Wanderlust Team was growing rapidly. Although they were no match for the top-10 exploration teams, all the missions that the Wanderlust Team had accepted would almost definitely succeed. Not only did their king, Wang Zhong, return, there was also another terrifying member who was gradually becoming a legend, a man who could control life and death: Mu Zi!

When Wang Zhong was not around, the great dangers that the Wanderlust Team had encountered during their missions were easily resolved with Mu Zi's help. Not only could this terrifying man decide the life and death of his enemies, he could also take back the lives of his comrades from the god of death. The news that spread in the Exploration Team Department was not of how powerful Mu Zi was on the battlefield, but who he had saved that day. He had become synonymous to an angel. After all, he was a being who could control level-7 dimensional lifeforms.

He had not seen Mu Zi for only one month, but when he saw Mu Zi again, Wang Zhong felt that Mu Zi had undergone many changes.

These changes were not in terms of his appearance or strength. Instead, it was in terms of his disposition and state of mind. In the past, Mu Zi was extremely lonely. Even when he was in Katchirda City, he did not seem to interact much with other people. He was afraid that his terrifying fate would bring about misfortune and mortal danger to the people around him. However, after he came to the battlefield of the Holy Battle, the strange curse seemed to have completely disappeared overnight. Not only did he not bring any adversity and death to the Wanderlust Team, he instead became their angel who saved lives.

Perhaps it was just like Wang Zhong had said, that the Fifth Dimension was different from the Earth. Perhaps it was because the powerful Sacred Teacher was here to offset the misfortune that he brought… Mu Zi was like a fish in water here. A smile that was often rarely seen was now plastered on his face. He had many new friends and did not constantly worry about his frightening fate. Furthermore, the Heroic Soul bottleneck he had been trapped by seemed to loosen silently with the change in his mentality. Mu Zi had a feeling that he would be able to advance to the Heavenly Soul stage very soon.

Not only were Mu Zi, Hyde, Oscar, and other members of the Wanderlust Team in the bar, the people from the Phantom Squadron were also here. Laura and Molton had arrived.

Frankly speaking, Molton still felt deep remorse in his heart. In the past, he had a great opportunity and a great person to cozy up to, but he did not seize the opportunity. Perhaps the pride in his heart had caused Molton to be unwilling to admit his errors in his planning and ignored it, but what truly caused Molton to regret was that he had failed Laura. If he had not constantly used various methods to silently stop her and made many decisions on behalf of her for her own good, Scarlet might not be the one dating Wang Zhong. However, his younger sister did not seem to blame him because of him. Laura was still the same old Laura, the fiery Captain of the Mad Beast Battle Squadron. She was a flexible and decisive person. She only had genuine blessings for Scarlet. Perhaps she did indeed lack the fate to be with Wang Zhong.

Besides, there were also many people from other exploration teams that Wang Zhong did not recognize. When they heard that the legend had returned, they came to the bar uninvited. Some of them simply wanted to offer a glass of alcohol and congratulate him. They wanted to get to know the super newbie who was destined to rise in the future. Others were here about the Soul Power Circuit…

The Soul Power Circuit had become common in the northern and southern battlefields. More and more people trained and achieved success, but an endless stream of problems emerged when they trained. To be honest, the Soul Power Circuit was not a particularly complex method. The experts in the Holy Land, including Solomon who was said to be the creator of the circuit in the southern battlefield, were able to deliver fixed answers for the problems that ordinary Holy Disciples encountered while training. They had also analyzed and explained some difficult points people would encounter while training on the Soul Power Circuit. However, when Wang Zhong returned, he was also called the creator of the circuits. The people in the northern base now believed that Wang Zhong was the true creator, and many people wanted to hear Wang Zhong's opinions. Not only did they seek answers during the process of training, they also wanted to prove Wang Zhong's identity as the creator. After all, the battle between the north and the south over the Soul Power Circuit had become a rather hot topic in private conversations.

Wang Zhong was extremely welcoming towards these questions. These would allow him to have a more in-depth understanding of his own Soul Power Circuit. Thus, when those who proposed a toast asked him such questions, Wang Zhong would answer all of them seriously. His extremely precise advice was different from the answers that came from the experts in the Holy Land and Solomon from the south. For ordinary people who trained their Soul Power Circuit, it would be difficult to tell who was superior based on these questions alone, but at least they had proven Wang Zhong's understanding toward the Soul Power Circuit. He had the knowledge at hand and could immediately answer any question he was asked. As a result, the northern battlefield could not help but believe that he was the true creator.

Thus, the bar was extremely bustling. It was originally a small welcome party organized for the Wanderlust Team, but it had become a grand celebration for the entire Exploration Team Department and a special question-and-answer session regarding the Soul Power Circuit. However, it was a pity that Scarlet was not around. It was said that she was sent out on a mission by her Great Teacher a few days ago and could not be contacted through Skylink. At the same time, Wang Zhong also asked about the progress on the northern battlefield. He heard that the resistance from the Octopus people had grown stronger. No matter whether it was the southern battlefield, which saw a rapid increase in soldiers, or the northern battlefield, which was facing wars, the progress on both sides had been slowed down significantly. Based on the trends, it seemed like the war was about to reach a stalemate. It was said that the higher-ups were considering increasing the number of soldiers. However, this time, they would not simply throw in low-leveled soldiers. They were considering adding high-leveled soldiers as well. A group of Heavenly Soul teachers had appeared on the list of reinforcements. It was even said that they would receive support from a new Sacred Teacher…

Even though they had added high-leveled troops to the battle, this did not simply mean that the war was expanding. This only meant that the level of war would increase once again. When Wang Zhong thought about the terrifying number of Saint experts he had seen in the Octopus people's territory, the guidance that the Saint Teacher had given him in the treasure vault of the phoenix remains, the grievances between the humans and the Octopus people, as well as the terrifying strength of the Octopus people, he felt an unpleasant premonition growing in his heart.

There was no doubt that the Octopus people were attempting something, and this would be a massive attempt. If humans lost many Heroic Souls, it might affect the long-term development of the human race, but it would not be enough to shake the foundations of governance among the humans in the Holy Land. What would truly shake their foundations would be the Great Teachers and Sacred Teachers. Once such experts entered the Mizobudapi World in large streams and took heavy losses, it would bring destructive consequences to the humans.

It was time to warn the higher-ups in the Holy Land with the reality he had learned about from the Octopus people's territory. His words might be taken seriously by the higher-ups in the Holy Land. Of course, he would need a way to deliver them. After all, a Heroic Soul teacher would not be able to interact with the higher-ups so easily. Wang Zhong pondered about a 'middleman' who could help him to pass on this information. Naturally, the first person he thought about was his direct superior, Great Teacher Sophia.