120: Chapter 120 Targeting the High-ups, On the Eve of the Storm (1)

When the sampan returned to Blue Moon Island's Outer Port, it was already the latter half of the night on the second day.

Two spiritual light lamps shone on the Pier—one hung on the post of the receiving shed, and the other sat next to the mooring bollard at the end of the trestle bridge. The lamp oil was newly added, and the flames were steady without a single flicker. Three people stood on the Pier: Su Qingli, Leng Feng, and Chen Mo. The clothes on all three were the same as during the day—they hadn't changed.

When Lu Changyuan jumped down from the sampan, Su Qingli took two steps forward. She glanced at the one-eyed old man holding the rattan chest on the sampan and asked nothing—first flipping her census register to the last page, she wrote a single word on a new line: 'Cui.' Then she closed the booklet.

"The unregistered single shack in the Inner Harbor—the empty one next to Zhou Laogen's has already been swept clean. Two veteran Dao soldiers will be in place before dawn." Su Qingli tucked the register under her arm. "Last night, when Zhou Laogen heard you were bringing Warehouse Chief Cui back, he moved a straw mat and laid it out in the neighboring shack himself. He said Warehouse Chief Cui has a bad back, so the bedding underneath should be laid thicker."

Warehouse Chief Cui got off the sampan. The corner of his rattan chest bumped against the wooden planks of the trestle bridge—the sound was very soft, but Su Qingli looked back at the chest. A thin layer of grey powder pressed upon the lid—lodestone dust from Broken Star Reef, glinting with an extremely faint metallic luster under the spiritual light.

"Warehouse Chief Cui, your shack is on the east side of the Pier. Follow me."

Su Qingli walked ahead holding the lamp. Warehouse Chief Cui followed behind carrying the rattan chest—his steps were not fast, but he trod very steadily on the wooden planks of the trestle bridge. After walking a few steps, he turned around and looked at Lu Changyuan, who was still standing on the Pier, with his single eye.

"Lord Lu, this small island of yours is quieter at night than during the day."

"Take another look tomorrow during the day—it won't be quiet anymore."

Warehouse Chief Cui nodded, following Su Qingli as they disappeared in the direction of the shantytown.

Leng Feng lowered his hand from his sword hilt. He walked up to Lu Changyuan and handed something over—it was a newly drawn formation diagram. Three lines were marked in cinnabar on the diagram: one along the outer edge of the Restriction line, one along the Outer Port berths, and one along the path of Qixia Peak's earth veins. Beside each line, the placement positions of the formation eyes and the depth of the Spirit Stone slots were annotated.

"Fairy Luo drew this over the past two days. The array foundation layout of the Tier 3 island-protecting Killing Array—outside the Restriction line, the Outer Port berths, and Qixia Peak's earth veins—will be laid along all three lines simultaneously. Once laid, it can drape another layer of the Geng Metal Sword Intent Killing Array outside the existing Restriction. Anyone below the Golden Core stage who forces their way in will enter but never leave."

"How many Spirit Stones will it take?"

"To fill all the formation eyes—twenty thousand Spirit Stones. Fairy Luo said it can be laid in three phases: the first phase lays the outer edge of the Restriction line, costing eight thousand Spirit Stones and taking three days to complete. The second phase lays the Outer Port berths—six thousand Spirit Stones. The third phase lays Qixia Peak's earth veins—six thousand Spirit Stones."

"Disburse eight thousand from the public treasury first. Start laying the first phase at dawn." Lu Changyuan handed the formation diagram back to Leng Feng. "Also—notify Old Mai Liu. Starting tomorrow, the peripheral fishing team must double their daily lookout sentries. If any ship flying the flag of the Unified Coordination Department is spotted at sea—regardless of distance—report it to the Pier immediately."

Leng Feng tapped his sword hilt twice—in the Sword Ray Cavalry formation behind him, two cavalrymen simultaneously turned their mounts and swam off in different directions. One went to the public treasury to fetch the Spirit Stones, and the other went to the periphery to notify the Loose Cultivator lookout posts.

Chen Mo did not speak from beginning to end. He stood on the Pier for a good while, waiting until Leng Feng finished arranging the cavalry before taking two steps forward. He held a newly bound production schedule booklet in his hand—the ink on the cover was still fresh.

"Young Lord. The fourth new vat was test-opened yesterday—the apprentice training period has been compressed to half a month. Of the three apprentices, one can already oversee a vat independently, and the remaining two can get the hang of it after following along for another ten days." He flipped open the production schedule booklet. "Once the fourth vat is running—the monthly production capacity of the four vats can reach over five hundred bottles."

"Can the old sand keep up?"

"The byproducts of the thunder bamboo are still rising—the fallen leaves from the tide sound spirit bamboo the day before yesterday were thirty percent more than last month. Ye Zhe said three new lateral roots have sprouted beneath the thunder bamboo, and each lateral root is spitting out old sand. Based on the current rate of raw material growth—it's enough for five vats to run at full capacity."

"Don't open the fifth vat yet." Lu Changyuan flipped the production schedule booklet in Chen Mo's hand to next month's production page. "After the fourth vat is running—do not use the excess capacity to make goods for civilian channels. Make all of it into military-grade purification liquid—raise the concentration by one level, change the packaging to military-standard wooden crates, and keep one extra sample from each vat for the archives. This batch of goods will not enter Jubao Pavilion's channels—keep it stored in the public treasury."

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment. His lips twitched—he wanted to ask something, but looking at Lu Changyuan's face, he swallowed his words. He wrote 'Military Standard' on next month's production page of the schedule booklet—his writing was slower than usual, each stroke pressed very heavily.

"Young Lord—how much should we store?"

"Store it until I say stop."

Chen Mo closed the booklet and turned to walk toward the Trial Workshop. After a few steps, he turned back—pulling a small cloth pouch from his sleeve and placing it in Lu Changyuan's hand. Inside the pouch were over a dozen finger-sized Silver-Scaled Moon Fish eggs—the shells were translucent, and the tiny spines of the embryos were already visible inside.

"Miss Su picked them up from the surface of the Starlight Coral reef the day before yesterday—she said this clutch of fish eggs was incubated in the cold light of the coral. The hatched fry are born with a trace of purified spiritual breath—making them more valuable than adult fish. She asked me to hand them over to you."

Lu Changyuan put away the cloth pouch. Chen Mo walked back along the stone path toward the Trial Workshop—the spiritual light from the Pier shone on his back, casting a long shadow on the ground.

The stone platform of Qixia Peak. Luo Qingcheng meditated with one eye open—the other eye staring at the formation diagram spread out on the stone table. The three lines on the diagram glinted with a layer of faint silver under the moonlight.

Lu Changyuan stood at the edge of the stone platform.

"The three phases of the Killing Array—how long will it take to lay them all?"

"If the Spirit Stones are in place—half a month." Luo Qingcheng turned the formation diagram to show him. "The first phase on the outer edge of the Restriction line will take three days. The second phase, five days. The third phase, seven days—Qixia Peak's earth veins are the heart of the array, so laying them is the slowest. Every array vein must be buried inch by inch into the rock from the peak downward."

"Within half a month—what if someone attacks before the array is fully laid?"

"The outer edge of the Restriction line will be laid in three days—after three days, there will be Geng Metal Sword Intent protection on the periphery. The Outer Port berths will take another five days—after eight days, the port direction can be sealed. Only the Qixia Peak direction—for the first eight days, it will be a weak point." She traced the third line on the formation diagram with her fingertip. "But on Qixia Peak—I am here."

Lu Changyuan sat down opposite the stone table. He took three items out of his sleeve and placed them on the stone table—Zhou Laogen's private ledger, Governor Xue Zhen's partial files, and Warehouse Chief Cui's Jade Slip. The three items were lined up, each glinting with a different luster under the moonlight: the dark yellow of paper, the faded white of silk cloth, and the pale green of spiritual jade.

"These three items—every single one of them has the same name written on it. Han—Deputy Commander of the Zhenhai Fortress Military Supplies Coordination Department. Ten years ago, those seven batches of goods released without inspection were sealed by him into the private storehouses of East District 3 in the inner city using the Unified Coordination Department's seals. Warehouse Chief Cui saw his men replacing the old boxes with new ones with his own eyes."