A World Worth Protecting

The donkey didn’t return the entire night…

Wang Baole wasn’t in a rush. Even though his extended senses couldn’t tell him where the donkey was, he knew that it was still alive. He trained while he waited. He was going to give it three days. If the donkey hadn’t returned by then, he would issue a command and seal its mouth shut.

The donkey might have sensed the impending threat. Three days later, late in the night, the donkey snuck back. It had a pill bottle in its mouth as it ran back. As soon as it got through the door, it dropped the bottle and kicked it towards Wang Baole. It had a look on its face like it was being an obedient child trying to appease its parent.

It was of no use, though… As soon as Wang Baole opened his eyes, he grabbed the donkey and gave it a thrashing. The donkey cried out in pain. Wang Baole finally gave it one last angry kick.

“Tearing the house down just because you haven’t had a beating in three days. Say, are you stupid? Don’t you know there’s this thing called silencing others once you’re done? You stupid ass, you should learn how to clean up after yourself!”

Wang Baole glared at the donkey, like a teacher furious with his unrepentant student, and kicked it again. The donkey didn’t cry out this time. There was a considering look in its eyes. The look on its face turned serious a moment later. It seemed to think what Wang Baole had said was right. It turned its head in the direction of the military base and glared with violence in its eyes and snorted a few times.

Wang Baole couldn’t be bothered with the donkey. He gave it another round of verbal lashing before picking up the pill bottle and opening it. He didn’t know what the pills in the bottle were, but they smelled all right. The donkey must have found it somewhere. He snorted, kept the bottle, and yelled at the donkey again.

“If you’re gonna be an ass, you should at least try to be a smart ass. If you do this again, I’ll cook you for dinner!”

Wang Baole shrugged. He could feel his anger dissipate. He decided to go back to his meditation. The donkey might have been screaming like a pig earlier, but it was still a beast. Its cultivation had advanced, and its physical body had grown stronger. The earlier cries had mostly been a pretense.

The donkey saw Wang Baole ignoring him and climbed to its feet sturdily. There were no signs of it being abused. It was as if it had grown used to such beatings and hadn’t even felt any pain. There was a look of deliberation in its eyes though. It gazed in the direction of the military base again, as if considering the possibility of silencing its accomplice…

It was clear that while the idea seemed pretty straightforward, its execution wasn’t as simple as it seemed. The donkey might be quite stupid, but it still had some self-preservation instincts. It knew that it would invite more trouble and might have to run for its life if it really executed the plan. It sighed and snorted through its nose, deciding to give up on the idea. However, it kept the idea of silencing its accomplices after doing the deed in its mind.

At that thought, the donkey snuck a glance at Wang Baole. There was an inkling of human emotion in its eyes. It was… idolization.

It truly felt that its master was an amazing person. He had taught it all these important principles, which had all turned out to be true. He had told it that it should retaliate. That’s what it had done. Now, the white donkey trembled in fear whenever it saw it.

The donkey grew pleased with itself at that thought. Time passed steadily as it continued to sneak glances at its master…

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, the donkey had become more obedient. It still left the house early in the day and returned late at night, but it seemed like it was no longer visiting the military base. Wang Baole was too busy to keep a constant eye on it anyway. He was busy refining his construction puppets. He had perfected the design. What was taking up his time now was the mass production and modifications.

He had also been keeping track of news about the New Mars Region. Through the many channels he had, he finally pieced together quite a complete picture of the situation. His excitement grew as he brainstormed over how to increase his chances of success.

He didn’t bother with the donkey. It ran wild, seeking its own food and saving Wang Baole from having to buy too many snacks.

The news about the plans to create a New Mars Region slowly spread within a select circle these two weeks. The various political forces in the Federation soon began to place great importance on the initiative. They started to compete with one another. Everything was eventually finalized. The Martian government soon issued an announcement!

There was going to be a new city zone built on Mars!

The new city zone would be built in a designated location in the wilderness. It would be larger than any of the city zones in the current Martian Colony City. The initial plans showed that the size of this new city zone would be one-tenth of the current city!

It was clearly a big-scale initiative. A new city zone would naturally need its own branch of administration that followed the Federation structure, and the person in charge of running the new city zone would be designated a Primary Rank Four Noble!

Regardless of who became the person running the new city zone, his office would be promoted to a Primary Rank Four Noble!

A Primary Rank Four Noble was the level grand elders of the various Pavilions in the four Dao Colleges possessed. Most at that level would be Core Formation realm cultivators. There were those who were at the Foundation Establishment realm, but they were few. Every one of them had immense political clout.

Based on the normal rate of career progression, Wang Baole knew that he would require some time before he could rise from a Secondary Rank Four Noble to a Primary Rank Four Noble. That was even if he made significant contributions. His cultivation would have to be at a certain level as well.

However… the creation of a new city zone presented a great opportunity. As long as he could be recommended to the job, he would shoot through the ranks. He not only would rise to become a Primary Rank Four Noble, but he would also control an entire city zone. Thinking about the extent of power he would possess at that point excited him, and his eyes shone with anticipation.

He had dug out quite a bit of information from various channels during this period of time. He had pieced together quite a clear understanding of what the new city zone meant in the grand scheme of things and knew that it was key in the continual excavation of the Divine Armament. The person who controlled the new city zone would have a great advantage in the future excavations for the Divine Armament!

None of the political forces would be able to resist such temptation. They fought viciously in private and eyed the prize with hungry eyes. Wang Baole might not see the fight going on, but he could imagine it in his mind.

After all… this would be the second Divine Armament to appear in the Federation. No political force would give up the chance to possess it. It would be hard for the Federation to monopolize the Divine Armament as well. If it didn’t handle the matter properly, it might spark a fierce fight. That was why the plan for a new city zone had been concocted. On the one hand, it served the needs for further Martian colonization. On the other… it gave the various political forces in the Federation a chance to pit themselves against one another in a setting with enforced rules and regulations!

The announcement had provided the rules for selection, to decide who would be the mayor of the new city zone.

Ten candidates would be selected out of countless qualified applicants, and there would be an assessment trial to determine the winner.

To ensure fairness, the assessment would be broadcast in real-time across the entire Federation. Everyone would be able to witness the trial, and its location would be the wild plains where the new Divine Armament Zone was to be built.

Ten zones surrounding the Divine Armament Catacombs had been demarcated. Every candidate could bring along ten thousand people. These servants’ cultivation must not surpass the candidate’s. They would set up camp in their zone and build a simplified model of a city based on their own proposals and blueprints. They would then be assessed through real battle!

When the party of strong warriors from the Federation had investigated the catacombs where the Martian Divine Armament lay then, they had found many creatures that had mutated due to the power of the Divine Armament.

Due to certain unique reasons, they couldn’t immediately excavate the Divine Armament and could only seal the catacombs. During this trial, the seal would be partially removed so that some of the creatures inside could escape.

The trial was to withstand and defend against the Beast Tide from the Divine Armament Catacombs. The candidate with the last city model that remained standing after the Beast Tides would emerge victorious and become the mayor of the New Mars Region.

The basis for the trial was to ensure that the newly selected mayor was the most suitable person qualified to build the new city zone as well as take charge of the future excavations for the Divine Armament. He or she must be skilled in the planning of the city zone and its defense.

The first round of selection was to select ten candidates. Every applicant would have to submit a proposal detailing how he or she planned to build the city zone. They would have to describe and draw their plans out. The proposal would be judged by the Governor and a few others, and the panel would single out the ten best proposals. The designers would be the ten finalists.

It was an assessment that judged one on both theory and practice. It seemed like a fair assessment, but it also presented opportunities for unfairness. Every candidate had their own political forces backing them, and everyone had at least ten thousand helpers. The political forces backing them would pour in all their resources to support their candidates.

This was, however, the best that they could do. Everyone was, after all, eyeing the Divine Armament hungrily. The condition to allow ten thousand servants to assist the candidate was something the various political forces had all agreed on.

This was a good outcome for the Martian Colony Governor. These external political forces were contributing to the expansion of the Martian Colony.

She knew that the competition would be intense. Regardless, the Divine Armament was on Mars. She was the Governor of this planet. No matter who won in the end, they would have to abide by her rules and show her a bit of respect.

She had no preferences over whom the new mayor would affiliate himself or herself to. She only had one condition, and that was… the applicant must be stationed on Mars prior to application.

Many cultivators, including Wang Baole, in the Martian Colony City, were roused when they heard about that singular requirement.