137: Chapter 137 The 100,000-strong camp, establishing authority with a single whip (2)

Adjutant Tie walked to the door. The door opened automatically—the Array Pattern on the fence flashed dark gold the moment it opened.

The Central Army's main tent stood at the very center of the perimeter. The roof was higher than all the surrounding tents—it was a mobile palace that could be dismantled and reassembled.

The structure was made of dark red spirit wood—the wood was covered in dense, intricate array veins.

Lu Changyuan had only ever seen a similar density in the flow of array veins on Luo Qingcheng's Geng Metal Sword Intent Killing Array—every vein flowed slowly, as if living water were circulating within the wood.

It was a Golden Core Stage Array Pattern—capable of blocking a full-strength strike from a Golden Core Early Stage Cultivator.

Adjutant Tie lifted the tent curtain. It was double-layered—the outer layer was thick linen used for standard military tents, while the inner layer was a single, complete black Spirit Beast hide.

The scales on the surface of the hide still shimmered with a faint dark golden luster—it was the skin of a Golden Core level sea beast, peeled off whole and sewn directly onto the inside of the curtain.

Inside the tent, a large tiger-skin chair sat in the center—the hide on the chair was genuine tiger skin.

The stripes on the hide shimmered with a cold, dark golden light under the spirit lamp—it was the hide of a Peak Tier 3 deep-sea tiger shark. After the shark died, the hide had been soaked in secret medicine for at least ten years, ensuring the fur's color never faded.

In front of the chair sat an exceptionally wide desk—spread across it were military reports, transfer orders, lists of Spirit Stone consumables, and several command tokens glimmering with a dark light.

Commander Tie Zhan sat on the tiger-skin chair. He wore no armor—only a deep black, worn military robe.

The cuffs and collar of the black robe were edged with pale gold trim—the gold thread had been washed so many times that in some places it had faded to a dull bronze.

He had worn this robe for at least a decade. He placed the Jade Slip from his hand onto the desk—a shifting, evolving Formation deduction diagram hovered above its surface.

"You're here." Commander Tie Zhan looked up at him. His eyes were small, but his gaze was incredibly sharp—unlike the brightness in Gu He's eyes when he'd "caught something interesting," Commander Tie Zhan's eyes held a direct, piercing intensity that hadn't dulled even after twenty years buried under piles of military affairs. He didn't blink when he looked at someone.

"Sit."

Lu Changyuan sat on the square stool opposite the desk. Adjutant Tie exited the tent—as the curtain fell behind him, the layer of black-scaled beast hide flipped, the scales flashing a dense row of dark golden spots under the spirit lamp.

"Back on the Pier—that Quartermaster mentioned the seventeenth supplementary clause. Did you believe him?" Commander Tie Zhan picked up the teacup beside him—he didn't drink, merely tracing the rim with his finger.

"I believed it for half a breath—then Adjutant Tie arrived."

"The seventeenth supplementary clause is real. But underneath it, there's a note: 'Command Headquarters reserves the right to re-conscript personnel who have completed payment in lieu of service.' Right Commander Li Feng issued the conscription order—and he was the one who had the Unified Coordination Department add that note. They knew you would pay—Right Commander Li Feng doesn't care about your thirty-two thousand Spirit Stones. He wants your people."

Commander Tie Zhan set the teacup down. The base clicked against the desk with a sharp, crisp sound.

"He shoved Gu He onto your island—and you accepted him. He sent a conscription order your way—and you paid your way out of it. What do you think his next move will be?"

"He'll find a reason to have the Unified Coordination Department hold up Blue Moon Island's shipments. One hundred and fifty bottles of purification liquid enter the fortress every month; from the Pier to the military warehouse, they must pass through the Unified Coordination Department's waterway checkpoint. Once they block the seal—the goods can't enter the warehouse."

"And what else?"

"He'll manipulate the notes on the conscription order again—if he could add one note under the seventeenth supplementary clause, he can add a second. The first confiscated my people—the second could revoke my qualification for payment in lieu of service."

Commander Tie Zhan glanced at him. That piercing gaze lingered on his face for two breaths—then he pushed a Storage Pouch across the desk. It was black, with a tiny dark golden jade bead strung on the drawstring.

"Right Commander Li Feng is already drafting that second note—it will reach you within three days. But after those three days—it won't happen."

He pushed the Storage Pouch across the desk. It wasn't heavy—but when it landed, the desk dipped slightly. The spirit wood desk had load-bearing Array Patterns carved into it—for the desk to sink, whatever was inside the pouch had to be at least Golden Core level.

"Open it."

Lu Changyuan opened the pouch. Inside lay a neatly folded suit of inner armor. The plates were incredibly thin—each one the size of a fingernail—connected by ultra-fine dark golden silk threads. The threads shimmered with a heavy, dark golden luster under the spirit lamp—their surface covered in miniature Array Patterns almost invisible to the naked eye. The armor felt weightless in his hand—yet the moment his fingers touched the dark golden light flowing across the plates, he could feel an immensely heavy Spiritual Pressure.

"The Xuanwu True Ring Armor. It can withstand three full-strength strikes from a Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator. Right Commander Li Feng knows you're with me—he's likely to act out of desperation and send assassins. Wear this beneath your military robe—don't let anyone know."

Lu Changyuan placed the inner armor back into the Storage Pouch. He didn't put it away immediately—he kept his hand over the opening, looking at Commander Tie Zhan.

"This armor—can I give it to someone else?"

Commander Tie Zhan paused—a momentary lapse, too brief for most to catch. He picked up the teacup—and this time, he drank. The tea was cold, but he didn't seem to notice.

"To whom?"

"Su Qingli, who is holding down Blue Moon Island. I'm in the Central Army's main tent—the safest place there is. She's on Blue Moon Island—the third phase of the Killing Array is still being laid, and the spirit field's drainage outlet might be breached by a swarm of Bone Fish in three months. The armor is more useful on her than on me."

Commander Tie Zhan set the teacup back down. The base clicked against the desk again—the sound softer than before. He studied Lu Changyuan for a long moment.

"This Su Qingli—who is she?"

"She manages the accounts on my island. She's a core Formation Master. After I left, I handed all military affairs on the island to Leng Feng—but Leng Feng is a newly promoted Grand Commander, and his first order has yet to be tested on the battlefield. If something happens on the island—Su Qingli is the first one to step up."

Commander Tie Zhan didn't answer immediately. He pushed the military reports aside, clearing a space on the desk. Then, he pulled another transfer order from a pile of bamboo slips.

"I had intended to give you this transfer order in a couple of days. But the fact that you gave the inner armor away—it shows you won't stay in a safe place waiting for others to take a blade for you." He placed the order next to the Storage Pouch. "It's a logistics miscellaneous unit of three thousand men in the outer camp's left wing—the unit is called the 'Sin Battalion.' It's filled with nothing but troublemakers who've broken the rules in the fortress and discarded scions of noble families. The Sin Battalion falls under the Logistics Supervision Department—as of today, you are their direct commanding officer."