Chapter 976: This Prosperous Age Is As You Wish
Jiangnan was stunned: "Why did he leave so fast? I still wanted to properly crab-thank Grandpa Li for helping me out of that jam!"
Wang Dalei's mouth twitched slightly: "Maybe he was afraid you'd pull something on him?"
Li Mingshan naturally didn't dare stick around? He'd lost all face, and who knew what else might happen in a little while?
Whenever he ran into Jiangnan, there was never any good news!
Jiangnan let out a sigh of emotion—this was the power of a Dao Heaven, after all!
Such a huge floating island, and in the time it took to fart, he'd transported it back to the forward base?
However, confirming that Li Mingshan was a member of the Holy Star this time made Jiangnan feel incredibly heavy!
He still hadn't decided whether to report it to the higher-ups...
After all, given Li Mingshan's status, even if they knew, what could they do about it?
Putting that aside for now, at least he'd made it out of the Void Sea safely, and with a pretty good haul!
Looking up at the floating island, Jiangnan couldn't get enough of it!
With a teleport, he shot up to the bottom of the floating island and drove an iron chain into it!
The other end of the chain, Jiangnan tied to the iron frame of the signal tower!
He'd worked hard to bring it back—couldn't let it drift away, or all that effort would have been for nothing!
At that moment, the Dragon Abyss Dark Night soldiers stationed at the forward base let out exclamations of surprise as they watched the floating island tethered above the base!
"My goodness! It really is a floating island? This... this is practically a scientific miracle!"
"Haha, I knew it—Boss Nan never comes back empty-handed! He's a bandit-level existence!"
"Sigh~ There are so many cute little bunnies on the floating island, looking at us curiously! Are these all Space System spirit beasts?"
"Mom~ They're so adorable! Where's Boss Nan? I don't see him!"
The crowd searched among themselves, and finally, their gazes landed on a dark figure with bull horns and the character "king" on its head!
└☻┘...
"Is... is this also a Space System spirit beast? What species? It looks so weird!"
"Sigh~ Calling it a spirit beast is an honor. Ugly! Is this a monster or what?"
Jiangnan glared: (ꐦᵒ̌益ᵒ̌) "Hmph! Ptoo! You're the monster! Your whole family are monsters! Believe I'll headbutt you into crying?"
"Xuexue! He said I'm ugly!"
Zhong Yingxue covered her mouth with a giggle: "Be good! You're not ugly at all, just a little hard on the eyes!"
Jiangnan: !!!
Even Xuexue was learning to be bad? That's not how you comfort someone, sis!
The Dragon Abyss Dark Night soldiers were also shocked—that monster was Boss Nan?
And the one next to him was even darker—was that Liu Mang?
Was the sun in the Void Sea really that harsh?
Just then, Zhang San also jumped down from the island, looking utterly bewildered!
"We're back at the base already? That... that was fast, wasn't it?"
Waiting on the floating island was definitely the right call!
He knew Jiangnan would bring the island back—otherwise, he might have been left behind again and had to walk home!
Wang Dalei was also full of joy: "Holy crap! Nine went out, and nine came back?"
"You even brought back Zi Yuan, that Starlight trash, alive? It was prophesied you'd die, but you didn't? Awesome!"
Jiangnan put his hands on his hips, proud: "Well, of course! Changing fate is just basic stuff, right?"
Zhang San: (›´益`‹) "It's ten! Ten!"
Zi Yuan ground her teeth: "You're the trash! Who just got his heart pierced by a Dragon Whisker Eel not long ago? Trash Dao Heaven!"
Wang Dalei's face reddened, and he cleared his throat to change the subject, excitedly: "Space Spirit Pearls—you really got over a thousand of them?"
Jiangnan grinned and pulled a bag of Space Spirit Pearls from his Alternate Dimension!
"Inside here, there's about four or five hundred. From Gold to Diamond rank. Keep them for research!"
Wang Dalei's hands trembled as he took the bag—that many?
It wasn't that he hadn't seen the world, but Space Spirit Pearls were notoriously hard to obtain!
Several Void Sea expeditions with terrifying casualties had only yielded a few pearls, and Jiangnan had just handed over hundreds?
"You... you're really giving all of them up? No one would blame you if you kept them for yourself!"
Jiangnan smiled: "Take them. The pearls I had before were all from the family's supplies anyway, so this makes up for it."
Jiangnan gave away the duplicates and the ones he didn't need himself.
He kept about seven or eight hundred as backup—after all, he'd need to arrange Spirit Skills for the little kid later!
Wang Dalei nodded heavily, full of emotion.
That little runt back then had really come into his own now!
But Jiangnan kept pulling things out—from the Little Rabbit Bastard's pocket, he took a large core fragment and placed it on the ground!
"I got three pieces in total. I'm keeping the one from the floating island for my own cultivation—that's enough!"
"This piece goes to the lab here for research!"
"As for the biggest piece, I plan to take it back to Jing Du along with the Star Gate and the Star Chart! It seems starting up the Star Gate requires absorbing Spatial Power..."
At that moment, Wang Dalei's eyes went wide, staring at Jiangnan as if he were a giant Pixiu!
This guy really knew how to collect stuff!
A bunch of researchers in white lab coats stared at the core fragment, drool practically dripping onto it!
Their faces were flushed with excitement!
"Boss... Boss Nan! Can we study that floating island later?"
"Can we ask you questions about the Void Sea terrain and the spirit beasts?"
Jiangnan smiled: "Feel free to study it, just don't scare the bunnies. They're pretty skittish. They'll need to be taken back to the academy for proper training later!"
"As for the data..."
With that, Jiangnan pulled out the rusty iron box!
"Inside is all the data Captain Wang and his team spent three months collecting!"
"It has information on all kinds of Space System spirit beasts, topographic maps of every floating island in the Void Sea. Liu Mang and I went around and filled in the gaps!"
"And there are twelve Space Spirit Pearls. Here!"
Wang Dalei stared blankly at the iron box and took it with both hands!
Many of the Dragon Abyss soldiers who had gathered had bright eyes and faces full of excitement!
"Captain Wang? Is that Brother Yi and the others? They're okay? They're back?"
"Where are they? Why don't I see them? Boss Nan, did you run into them in the Void Sea?"
Jiangnan's expression darkened, and he said hoarsely: "Yeah... I brought them back."
Saying that, he hauled out a blue stone from his Alternate Dimension, upon which forty-nine rusted Dragon Abyss unit badges gleamed in the sunlight...
The forward base, which had been a bit noisy a moment ago, suddenly fell silent!
The soldiers looked at him with complex expressions, slowly taking off their caps and pressing them to their chests!
Zi Yuan clenched her fists, murmuring: "Bro... you're home!"
Wang Dalei's eyes reddened as he gently traced the badges on the blue stone.
The face of each person appeared vividly before him.
Some had been personally trained by Wang Dalei—raw recruits when they first arrived at the base, who even got altitude sickness during training...
Later, they became seasoned veterans. Now they stood before Wang Dalei once more.
Like the neat formation when they had set out on their mission. It was as if they were silently reporting to Wang Dalei!
"Follow me!"
Wang Dalei turned and walked toward the depths of the base. Jiangnan carried the stone tablet behind him.
The group arrived at the martyrs' cemetery at the back of the base.
A tall stele stood there, covered with names—all the Dragon Abyss Dark Night soldiers who had fallen in the Western Frontier, densely packed.
Since the Spirit Energy Recovery, over twenty years of storms and hardships in the Western Frontier, too many had fallen to stabilize the situation in the No-Man's Land!
Jiangnan placed the stone tablet in front of the stele, took out Wang Yi's bones, wrapped them in a flag, and laid them in the cemetery.
Dragon Abyss Dark Night soldiers came from all over the base, gathering in greater numbers.
Watching Jiangnan's back, they felt that he had somehow brought their brothers home from the perilous Void Sea!
Their hearts were filled not only with admiration but also with a new layer of respect and recognition!
Wang Dalei patted Jiangnan on the shoulder and pointed to the west!
"Look! The view is good from here, right? You can see far, far away!"
Jiangnan looked in the direction Wang Dalei pointed, and a vast stretch of territory came into view, wide and desolate!
"Do you know why the stele was erected here?"
Jiangnan looked at Wang Dalei and seemed to see a glint of moisture in the man's eyes!
"Why?"
Wang Dalei took a deep breath: "Because I want the brothers to see with their own eyes—this land they fought for, the land they protected with their lives!"
"Today, all is well! The country is peaceful and the people are safe! This prosperous age is as they wished!"
"As long as the No-Man's Land isn't settled, I, Wang Dalei, will never leave the Western Frontier!"
Jiangnan's heart trembled violently. He didn't say much, just patted Wang Dalei's back heavily!
Everyone has their own story, and their own convictions!
Wang Dalei was living out his conviction!
"All units!"
"Present!"
The shout was like a dragon, piercing the nine heavens!
"Attention! Salute!"
The Dragon Abyss Dark Night soldiers gathered there straightened their backs and saluted the stele!
The setting sun was in the west, the afterglow like blood. The stele gazed silently toward the direction of the No-Man's Land, as it did every single day!
Back at the base, Jiangnan wandered around for a bit but didn't see Mountain Cat. He couldn't help feeling a little disappointed!
Still not back? What kind of mission takes this long?
He looked down at the copper bell on his wrist and gently touched it!
He had wanted to find Mountain Cat to report his safety, snatch the safety charm, and then go play with the Pocket Rabbits on the floating island together!
By the time he returned to his room, it was already dark. Jiangnan thought for a moment, then called Yang Jian!
"Hey, Jian Ge! I'm back from the Void Sea!"
Yang Jian grinned, his tone noticeably relaxed!
"Got the news from the west. Glad you made it back alive!"
"What reward do you want this time? Oh, wait—now you're the one sending stuff home!"
"Probably not interested in the usual rewards, huh?"
Jiangnan chuckled slyly: "You heard about the Star Gate too?"
Yang Jian's expression turned serious: "I've never heard of any treasure that can go to the Proxima Centauri system!"
"The value of that Star Gate could even overturn human understanding!"
"The news has been sealed. You'd better bring the Star Gate here yourself—don't let anything go wrong!"
Jiangnan nodded heavily: "That's what I was thinking. Also, Jian Ge, do you know about the Holy Star organization?"
Yang Jian's face suddenly went pale, and he shot up from his chair, his expression stern!
"They've contacted you?"
Jiangnan was startled—Jian Ge knew!