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Cui Ming had anticipated that the Lich would raise this issue, so he was prepared. He replied, "Uncle He, playing around is fine, but I won't marry an ordinary person. Besides, I already have a woman at home... Uncle He, are you suggesting that I stay on Shadow Island for the long term?"
The Lich laughed heartily. "Of course not. Once your business is done, you can leave. I still have the Gratitude Payment for you. Just take a look; as long as it's not forced, anything goes." The Lich felt displeased. Did Cui Ming not realize that he would not let him leave alive? If Cui Ming left alive, there would be no secrets left on Shadow Island. Moreover, could Cui Ming really keep anything from Baor? It was a delaying tactic—keep him around, force him to stay, and if that didn't work, just kill him. However, by then, he might not be able to act himself; he would have to rely on his son to guard against Cui Ming. He couldn't let Cui Ming become the regent and turn his son into a puppet after his death. Speaking of which, there was also the Warden. The Warden had undergone some special modifications; it was said to be part of Mundo's Mentor's human experiments. He was still alive and could help look after his son. If Cui Ming stirred up trouble, the Warden could easily crush him with the Death Hat.
The Lich was not worried about Cui Ming harboring ulterior motives; in the face of absolute power, any thoughts were mere paper tigers.
Cui Ming's first step in his plan had been achieved. There were branches to consider: would the female doctor poison Baor? Cui Ming thought the likelihood was low; the female doctor's values were stable and stubborn—she wouldn't harm a child. Cui Ming hoped she would poison the Lich instead, leading to chronic poisoning combined with the True Origin Power curse. This way, the Lich would age a bit faster than he anticipated, thus advancing the activation time of the Magic Circle.
What worried Cui Ming now was Baor's mental state; it was immature due to his age and low intelligence, making it difficult for him to conceptualize the Transformational System—he could only delay it. Damn that Lich for dismissing the fastest enhancement factor! However, this showed that the Lich had high hopes for his son.
How much longer did he need to stay on Shadow Island? That depended on how much time he had. On one hand, Cui Ming hoped for the female doctor to poison the Lich; on the other hand, he wanted Yun'er to enhance herself through Force training. As Yun'er's strength increased and the Lich's diminished, it would force the Lich to activate his Magic Circle quickly. Indeed, he couldn't find a way to make the female doctor poison him and weaken the Lich, but he could find a way for Yun'er to grow stronger. He certainly didn't want to spend three to five years on Shadow Island—three to five months at most; he needed to wrap things up.
To enhance Yun'er's abilities, he needed to wait for the right opportunity when Flower Aunt delivered what he needed.
In the following days, everything fell into place. The female doctor became Yun'er and Baor's literacy teacher while Cui Ming watched from the sidelines. Unlike Cui Ming, the female doctor was very responsible; she scolded Baor four times in three days for misbehavior. Sometimes mischievous children just needed a good smack; whoever punished them became their favorite person. Adults were often like that too—they easily remembered others' faults while forgetting their merits.
After more than ten days had passed, what Cui Ming wanted finally arrived at Shadow Island—a batch of weapons that Flower Aunt was supposed to pick up outside the island since outsiders were not allowed on Shadow Island. However, in order to test the Lich's attitude, Cui Ming requested to accompany Flower Aunt on this trip to retrieve the weapons. The Lich generously allowed both of them to go together. The ship transporting the weapons was forty kilometers away from Shadow Island and outside of the Lich's territory.
Cui Ming considered two possibilities: one was that the Lich had begun to trust him; another was that he wanted to use this opportunity to test him.
Cui Ming believed it should be the first option because if it were a test from the Lich, he would have sent Warden along and monitored him as he left his territory. Since neither happened, it was great news—the Lich had developed some level of trust in him based on his efforts regarding Baor. Although in his plan, Cui Ming couldn't allow the Lich complete trust—otherwise he'd fully trust Warden—he felt he hadn't yet reached a point where he could earn that level of trust from the Lich.
Cui Ming and Flower Aunt wore masks while heading out to meet the weapon ship to avoid potential scrutiny from Dawn Empire smugglers and exposure of their dealings. To his surprise, he encountered a familiar face: Eva—the person delivering the weapons turned out to be Eva.
Although her face was covered, Eva immediately recognized Cui Ming's presence. After a moment of contemplation, she was greatly surprised to see Cui Ming on Shadow Island. Cui Ming was equally puzzled as to why Eva was there delivering weapons. What Cui Ming did not know was that the Ray Intermediary often collaborated with the Warden. There was a warehouse on a small deserted island fifty kilometers from Shadow Island, which facilitated smuggling operations across the Three Continents and the North. Given its proximity to Shadow Island, it was naturally wary of any interference; even though the Lich could not leave Shadow Island, the Warden still could. Moreover, due to Shadow Island being designated as a restricted area by the Dawn Empire within a hundred kilometers, the warehouses near the Arctic Circle were exceptionally secure.
The key point of Ray Agency's arms trade lay in the Eastern Continent, where most city-states in the North faced political instability and frequent civil wars. Additionally, the Fire Religion Nation had substantial funds and sought to purchase military equipment; however, the Eternity Alliance imposed an arms embargo against them. The Ray Intermediary filled this gap, and Eva had come along with the shipment as she needed to deliver goods to a warehouse. A certain country had placed an order for arms; although they lacked cash, they were willing to exchange diamonds for weapons.
Eva saw Cui Ming shake his head lightly and understood what he meant. She nodded gently and then signaled her companions to secure the Flower Maiden Vessel while they began unloading weapons from the ship. There were many weapons, not all of which were firearms; there were also a considerable number of cold weapons. However, these cold weapons should not be underestimated, as many were specialized tools used by agents and spies under the Elder Council of the Dawn Empire.
For instance, blow darts could be crafted by skilled individuals in civilian life and were extremely powerful. While their accuracy at medium range was relatively low, they remained effective. The Spy Crossbow was particularly fearsome; it had an effective range of up to eighty meters and could be equipped with infrared sights. Most notably, it was compact, made without metal materials, disassembled easily, and when coated with poison became an elite tool for stealthy assassinations.
Then there were slingshots, which appeared to be children's toys but had developed uses in military affairs. Besides launching small stones, they could also fire explosives due to their small size and portability, making them quite marketable.
Bows and arrows were undoubtedly the most important long-range cold weapons available in various forms: traditional bows, modern compound bows, and recurve bows. Each type had specialized arrows designed to enhance lethality and accuracy. There were many types of arrows as well—hunting arrows, armor-piercing arrows, signal arrows, competition arrows—and just for bows and arrows alone, there were six boxes.
Throwing spears, meteor hammers, javelins, and others were somewhat redundant; Cui Ming listed everything he could think of.
Naturally, there were even more firearms: handguns, rifles, sniper rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, etc. All these had been ordered based on Cui Ming's requisition list. One should not underestimate rocket launchers; Jinjin used one regularly. Mi Xiaona employed a small cannon while Mi Xiaoji utilized super bombs.
Once everything was unloaded, Cui Ming shook hands with Eva before both parties departed on their respective vessels. Once Eva reached a secluded area, she opened a note she held in her hand—one hastily written by Cui Ming while keeping accounts earlier. The gist of it warned her not to disclose his presence on Shadow Island.
...
The long-range weapons were brought back and neatly arranged in a line on the beach with targets set up as well. Originally intended for Baor to observe which weapons he preferred, a small issue arose: neither Cui Ming nor Yun'er nor Lich nor Warden knew how to handle firearms. Cui Ming had some knowledge but struggled with loading and disengaging safety mechanisms; he accidentally broke a gun while trying to figure out which way to pull it.
Faced with Lich's grim expression, Cui Ming quickly stowed away the broken weapon and sought someone familiar with firearms among the concubines' tribe. Many of these concubines hailed from the Dawn Empire where military service was mandatory for all able-bodied citizens unless physically disabled. They underwent several years of military training based on their physical capabilities and willingness. For instance, weaker women typically received medical training while weaker men underwent basic shooting training. Stronger men received combat training and those willing to serve longer could join regular military units for three to ten years of service. All commanding officers were selected from within these ranks through assessments and promotions; this resulted in exceptionally capable lower-level officers within the Dawn Empire's military structure.
Cui Ming believed that among the consorts, there should be a few who were familiar with firearms. However, the reality was quite unfortunate. After much effort, he managed to find a female medic who had served for a year; she had participated in shooting practice twice and fired ten rounds. It was better than nothing. But when they arrived at the beach, it was clear that the fun had already begun.
The ones handling the firearms were Big Twin and Little Shuang. They were extremely skilled and knowledgeable about weapons. Upon inquiry, Cui Ming learned that they were children of low-ranking officers from the Dawn Empire and were also members of a youth military organization, receiving some basic training. Before being raided by the Lich, Big Twin had been recommended for training at the Youth Sniper Training Camp due to her excellent shooting performance. Little Shuang, while not as proficient as her sister, still had decent shooting skills.
Since he was unable to contribute effectively, Cui Ming decided to observe from the sidelines, focusing on Baor and paying attention to Baor's visual responses. Baor did not like weapons that made too much noise and showed resistance even though these firearms had sufficient accuracy and destructive power. After three hours of gunfire, firearms were deemed unsuitable, and they could only seek Baor's interests among cold weapons.
As night fell, everyone took a break for the night. The next morning, they arrived at the beach around ten o'clock. The polar night would arrive in a few days, leaving only three to four hours of daylight each day.
Everyone was familiar with cold weapons, even if their aim was slightly off. Baor clearly showed interest in the Hand Crossbow and blowgun, particularly fascinated by the latter. Under Warden's protection, Baor began to use the blowgun. To everyone's surprise, the first shot from this mischievous child was aimed at Big Twin. Fortunately, her aim was poor, leaving Big Twin pale with fright. (To be continued.)
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