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墨書 Inktalez
As night fell, Mu Tou sat on the ground outside the living room terrace, hugging his knees and gazing dreamily at the moon. This was not the first time, nor the first night; whenever there was a moonlit night, Mu Tou would sit like this, completely still, undisturbed by the world around him.
Being alone with Beiyue felt quite awkward for Cui Ming. What could he say? The only topics available were about cultivators or about Li Qing and the others; anything else seemed inappropriate. Beiyue had no interest in drinking or gambling, and she disliked those activities. As for feelings? That topic was even harder to broach.
Beiyue seemed to sense this as well. Around eight o'clock, she returned to her bedroom and closed the door. Cui Ming lay on the sofa watching television, only to discover that it had ratings. After watching the news for a while, he picked up a piece of paper from the writing desk and began doodling while lying on the couch.
Finally, Beiyue changed into a new outfit—her pajamas. They were very traditional and formal sleepwear. She intended to check on Mu Tou before going to bed. Seeing Cui Ming doodling, she walked over quietly. Cui Ming was so focused that he didn't notice her approach. Beiyue stood at his head and watched for a long time; it looked like a magic circle or perhaps a map. Finally, she asked with curiosity, "What is this?"
Cui Ming jumped in surprise, turning to sit up and seeing Beiyue there. He pulled the tea table closer to the sofa and pieced together several sheets of paper. "This is a power map; I was just bored and playing a deduction game."
Beiyue became genuinely interested and sat beside Cui Ming. "Explain it to me."
"Three Continents: South and North Poles, Divine Island, Silent City, Shadow Island. Let's start with the Eastern Continent," Cui Ming said as he held up one sheet of paper for introduction. "It has more than ten City-States along with seven tribes, making it the smallest in scale." He continued, "Its land area is also the smallest among the Three Continents, only half that of the Western Continent. This is the Eastern Continent: Twilight City has forty-seven City-States and twelve tribes. The Western Continent has thirty-eight City-States and nine tribes, with the largest land area. The Dawn Empire's territory is seven times that of Twilight City."
Beiyue asked, "Cui Ming, are you giving me a geography lesson?"
"No, not at all," Cui Ming replied. "Have you noticed? The Eastern Continent and Southern Continent share a common point—they have no lawless lands. However, in the Western Continent, first there's the Southwest Rainforest area, which is twice the size of two Nordo City territories. The northwest region is barren land that spans four Nordo Cities. This entire circle around Dawn Empire consists of friendly City-States; only those on the edges have average relations with Dawn Empire. Additionally, islands near the Western Continent like Bit Island and New Island are all lawless territories."
"And then?" Beiyue asked, unsure where the key point lay.
Cui Ming continued, "Given Dawn Empire's strength and how surrounding City-States submit to it, why are there so many lawless lands? I believe that even in peaceful times, Dawn Empire remains vigilant against war."
"And then?" What else could be said?
"Take a look at this map, Twilight City, the second largest power in the world, the only one capable of economically and militarily contending with the Dawn Empire. However, Twilight City's location is not ideal. Aside from the canal leading to the sea and West Lake City, it is completely surrounded by the Fire Religion Nation. Politically speaking, the Fire Religion Nation harbors a deep hatred for Twilight City. As soon as the Fire Cult goes to war, their first target will definitely be Twilight City. If they take down Twilight City, there will be no strong opponents left on the Eastern Continent."
"This is the Eastern Continent, home to three and a half Fire Religion Nations, including our neighbor Dawnmoon City and two neighboring Nordo Cities," Cui Ming said. "Have you noticed? The rules are quite clear now; the only potential conflict lies between the Fire Cult and the Eternity Alliance. On the Western Continent, there isn't a single Fire Cult Nation or half Fire Cult Nation. But that's not the case on the Eastern Continent. Within the Eternity Alliance, the Dawn Empire has always coexisted peacefully with the Fire Cult. Their aim is to reform the Fire Cult and eliminate its violent religious tendencies. Looking back at history, during several world wars, the Dawn Empire adopted an extermination policy against the Fire Cult city-states and followers on the Western Continent. However, on the Eastern Continent, they employed a policy of appeasement, even stopping their ally Twilight City from destroying Holy Mountain, thus missing out on a complete opportunity to eradicate the Fire Cult."
Beiyue was not foolish; he understood: "Are you saying that the Dawn Empire has been using the Fire Cult to suppress other powerful city-states?"
"Yes, but there's no right or wrong in this; it's part of the game between nations. The Dawn Empire's dominance over the Eternal Sphere for a thousand years is not mere luck but an inevitability. Although Twilight City is powerful, it has always been constrained by repeated wars that not only failed to eliminate any Fire Cult city-state but instead made these city-states view themselves as enemies of the Fire Cult."
Beiyue said, "I think what you're saying isn't really the key point." Cui Ming did not seem like someone who would pay attention to global dynamics.
Cui Ming nodded: "Beiyue, based on the normal reproduction rate of Fire Cult Practitioners, they should have already dominated by now. But until now... why? I believe that half-beasts reproduce more complexly than that. But why has there been a recent trend of explosive growth among Fire Cult Practitioners? It has even led to heightened tensions between the practitioner world and the Eternity Alliance with the Fire Cult. Why is the Dawn Empire insisting on restraint from both sides?"
"Are you suggesting that the increase in quality among Fire Cult Practitioners is related to the Dawn Empire?"
Cui Ming did not answer directly: "I just contacted my manager; he connected me with a banker. I asked some questions, and he told me that Twilight City's commercial and economic strength is surpassing that of the Dawn Empire. Twilight City is no longer limited to being just an iron city; many years ago it signed research agreements with several scientific departments in Nordo City. The opening of the Purple Moon Train has unified seven coastal city-states around Twilight City into one entity. In contrast, over these past twenty years, the Dawn Empire has faced its greatest dilemma: with the improvement of the Eternity Alliance, it can no longer exert pressure on city-states in the Western Continent to make them vassals. There have even emerged anti-Dawn Empire hegemonic organizations among civilians."
"From a military perspective, many people do not believe that Twilight City has already surpassed Dawn Empire. But that's simply how it is; since thirty years ago, Twilight City has drastically reduced its military from an original force of one million down to just one hundred fifty thousand today. The Dawn Empire's military remains at three million due to its separation of military and political powers managed by the Elder Council."
Beiyue frowned: "Cui Ming, don't underestimate me; three hundred twenty thousand versus one hundred fifty thousand—doesn't that mean one hundred fifty thousand has an advantage?"
Cui Ming replied: "I learned this while chatting with Mi Big Head in Shen Island City; Twilight City has begun creating elite troops—not in a traditional sense but representing individual quality and technological prowess. For instance, regarding artillery, while Dawn Empire still maintains traditional artillery and infantry coordination in combat, Twilight City has mastered fuel technology using ammonium perchlorate mixed with aluminum powder through research in Nordo City and developed missiles. They theoretically have inertial guidance systems capable of launching missiles directly from Twilight City to attack Dawn Empire's capital. Currently, Twilight City's key point is researching medium-range missiles."
"Mi Big Head told me that there’s no longer any competition between Fire Religion Nation and Twilight City; they are completely different levels of opponents now. Twilight City has already developed technology for manufacturing strategic airships capable of carrying missiles for precise strikes against every Fire Religion Nation on Eastern Continent. Mi Big Head also informed me that due to military-political separation, during an era dominated by cold weapons and manpower-based warfare, Dawn Empire was indeed a hegemon. However, in this era of technological warfare, while it cannot be said that Twilight City can completely defeat Dawn Empire, it possesses sufficient strength to challenge them."
Cui Ming spoke about these city-states' technology and politics for one purpose: he suspected that the sudden rise of Fire Cult Practitioners was related to Dawn Empire. Although practitioners could not remain unscathed within artillery attack ranges, they had another purpose—decapitation. Regardless of how advanced high-tech weapons are, they still rely on human operators; once war breaks out, Fire Cult Practitioners would target important figures like prime ministers for assassination. While commercially, culturally, economically, technologically, and militarily Twilight City surpasses Fire Religion Nation overall, currently in terms of practitioner quality, Twilight City finds itself at a disadvantage—but it has Force Alliance as its backing.
Beiyue, now a hunter with a sense of responsibility, pondered for a long time and asked, "Cui Ming, do you have confidence in this inference?"
Cui Ming replied, "Beiyue, I was just bored and thought about some things that Mi Big Head said. I felt there was a connection, so I made some deductions. I'm just an ordinary person; I have no understanding of national affairs. I don't know how the country's Game works or the relationships involved. I'm not very interested."
Beiyue continued, "We've been wondering what Liu Meier might do to sow discord. If the Ding Family of the Loyal Dawn Empire and the Fire Cult share the same interests, then the Force Alliance could be facing its greatest crisis."
"Yes, if Liu Meier stirs up one side, the other side will react, leading to a fallout between them. Then the Ding Family could rally their forces and form a Minor League. The Ye Family has been loyal to Twilight City for generations, not to the Force Alliance, and they could also be manipulated. The Force Alliance might just split apart."
"The Four Great Families—it's a pity that the Cao Liu Family lacks strength; otherwise, the Ding Family wouldn't be able to cause any trouble." Beiyue said, "Regardless of whether this analysis is correct or not, it sounds quite reasonable to me. I need to inform Wandering about this. As for how to handle it, that's their business."
"I was just speaking casually; it might sound ridiculous," Cui Ming quickly distanced himself from the idea since he was an outsider.
"Well, if you're bored, think more about the arrangements for Thunder Sound City."
"The arrangements for Thunder Sound City rely on Raefus's underground network. The key point lies in whether Little Lu is as formidable as Wandering claims," Cui Ming said. "Rest assured, having learned from past experiences, I won't underestimate my opponents. I need to strategize and ensure victory from afar, leaving no escape for the witch."
Beiyue looked at this confident man and felt he had a special charm that shouldn't lead her to wild thoughts. Beiyue stood up and glanced at the wood outside on the terrace. "You should get some rest too."
"Okay." Cui Ming watched Beiyue return to her room. He needed to resolve matters concerning Master Bei first; that was his only goal at the moment. After dealing with Master Bei's situation, Cui Ming planned to confront Beiyue. Until then, he couldn't bring himself to do it because he knew convincing Beiyue to give up was impossible. Even if she agreed, it would leave her with lifelong regrets.
Sometimes in life, two people who have feelings for each other may not end up together or last until the end. Many people's spouses are not their youthful lovers when they grow old together. Love and suitability are two words that have no relation to each other. (To be continued.)
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