Chapter 359 : Ironwood Base
Chapter 359: Ironwood Base
After a lengthy conversation, Zhou Ming declined Mu Tianqing's recruitment offer. Rather than joining the Hunter Guild, he used his Hunter Guild Contribution Points to exchange for the intelligence he needed.
These Contribution Points had been earned back when he had slain Foreign Races in the Panlong Mountain Range.
He had never used them before, and now was the perfect opportunity to exchange them for intelligence regarding high-tier serpent-type Ferocious Beasts, allowing him to avoid owing anyone a favor.
After leaving the Hunter Guild, Zhou Ming did not rush to depart from Dawn Base immediately. Instead, he paid visits to Jiang Lai, the Director of Academic Affairs of Blue Star Academy, and Feng Tianyun, the commander of the Northern City Defense Army.
Although both were only Early-stage Transcendent experts, they each held important positions within the Alliance's upper ranks. Since Zhou Ming had interacted with them before, he naturally took the opportunity to visit them.
Whether or not it brought him any immediate benefits, maintaining good relations with two Transcendent experts could only be advantageous.
As for Elder Ge Hui of the Hunter Guild, according to Mu Tianqing, he had applied to travel abroad for cultivation and had yet to return to the Hunter Guild.
Zhou Ming guessed that after obtaining the Frost Giant Python's Ferocious Beast Crystal Core, Elder Ge Hui had begun preparing to break through to the High-level Transcendent Rank.
After visiting Jiang Lai and Feng Tianyun, Zhou Ming left Dawn Base once again the following day and continued his journey of exploration.
This time, he flew all the way south.
Along the way, just as before, aside from gathering resources in the wilderness, he continued searching for ways to expand the population of the Molting Snake Race.
His destination this time was the coastal region near the Alliance's southern border.
Compared with the Alliance's eastern and western fronts, the pressure in the south was second only to that of the north.
The primary reason was that among the Sea Race of the Tidal Empire, the weaker Sea Race members were poorly suited for land combat.
Meanwhile, the true experts of the Sea Race rarely took action under normal circumstances.
Furthermore, deep within the boundless ocean, besides the Sea Race of the Tidal Empire, there existed enormous Sea Beasts and countless other unknown creatures.
Combined with the Sea Race's poor aptitude for metallurgy, forging, and industrial manufacturing, rumors even claimed that certain factions within the Alliance secretly traded with the Sea Race. The relationship between the two sides had not yet reached the point of mutual annihilation.
As for the authenticity of those rumors, they remained unverified.
However, based on Zhou Ming's understanding of humanity, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance they were true.
After all, the vastly different living environments of humans and the Sea Race meant there was little direct conflict between them.
Only the World's Heart held overwhelming attraction for the Sea Race of the Tidal Empire.
Driven by mutual interests, it was entirely possible that factions within the Alliance secretly conducted trade with the Sea Race.
The reason Zhou Ming was heading toward the coast this time was because, according to the intelligence provided by Mu Tianqing, a Lord-level sea serpent had appeared there.
Not only did it possess the ability to manipulate Water-element Energy Particles, but it also possessed terrifying snake venom. Within the ocean, its combat strength was comparable to that of a Mid-level Transcendent expert.
Because it frequently appeared near the Alliance's coastal regions, the Alliance had already dispatched Transcendent experts multiple times to eliminate it.
Unfortunately, the ocean's environment was incredibly complex.
Whenever the sea serpent sensed danger approaching, it would immediately dive into the deep sea to escape.
Within the deep sea, even Transcendent experts had their strength suppressed.
Fighting a Sea Beast of the same level in its home territory carried an extremely high probability of death, even for a Transcendent expert.
The Alliance naturally had no desire to pay such a price and therefore chose to monitor it rather than force a confrontation.
Moreover, dispatching too many Transcendent experts could attract the attention of the Sea Race from the Tidal Empire.
The reason Mu Tianqing had revealed this information to Zhou Ming was that he hoped Zhou Ming would eliminate the sea serpent on the Hunter Guild's behalf.
After all, following the Polar Ice Plain expedition, Zhou Ming's ability to suppress serpent-type Ferocious Beasts was no longer a secret.
Before heading to the coast, however, Zhou Ming first needed to visit a medium-sized base to complete a mission he had accepted from the Hunter Guild.
This was the price he had to pay in exchange for obtaining the three advanced knowledge manuals:
《Advanced Energetics》
《Fundamentals of the Elements》
《Profound Principles of Life Energy》
Several days later—
Above the flat wilderness, a crimson streak of light shot rapidly across the sky.
As the crimson light suddenly came to a halt, a lone figure hovered motionlessly in midair.
It was Zhou Ming, who had left the Alliance Headquarters several days earlier.
“Ironwood Base?”
Looking at the Alliance Base in the distance, Zhou Ming surveyed his surroundings to confirm he had arrived at the correct location before flying directly toward the base.
He made no attempt to conceal his arrival.
To him, a medium-sized base was no longer something worthy of concern.
With his current strength, provided there were no Transcendent experts of the same level to stop him, annihilating an entire medium-sized base would merely take time.
Meanwhile, the instant Zhou Ming entered Ironwood Base's safe zone, the City Defense Army's surveillance systems immediately detected his arrival.
For a moment, every defensive measure along Ironwood Base's city walls was activated in an emergency response.
Throughout the Alliance's history, there had once been cases where Foreign Races disguised themselves as Human Race Transcendent experts and entered Alliance Bases, slaughtering everyone without encountering any resistance.
Although such incidents had not occurred for many years, Alliance Headquarters still required every base to follow strict defensive procedures.
As a result, they no longer feared offending incoming Transcendent experts.
When Zhou Ming landed before the city gates, all the hunters entering and leaving the base had already been evacuated.
The senior officers of the City Defense Army responsible for security had already assembled to receive him.
“Lieutenant Colonel Li Kui of the Ironwood Base City Defense Army greets you, my lord.”
Seeing that Zhou Ming had not attempted to force his way inside, the middle-aged military officer who introduced himself as Lieutenant Colonel Li Kui quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
If the Transcendent expert before him had possessed a domineering temperament and insisted on storming the base by force, Li Kui truly would not have known how to handle the situation.
After all, any resulting consequences would be far beyond what a mere lieutenant colonel like him could bear.
“Arrange a vehicle for me. I have business at the Hunter Guild.”
Without any pleasantries, Zhou Ming spoke in a commanding tone.
“This way, my lord. I'll make the arrangements immediately.”
Li Kui personally escorted Zhou Ming into the base and ordered someone to prepare a military vehicle.
After Zhou Ming departed, the hunters waiting to re-enter the base immediately gathered together and began discussing what had happened.
To the overwhelming majority of people, seeing a Transcendent expert in person was an exceedingly rare event.
Within a medium-sized Alliance Base, High-level Professional Beast Tamers were already considered the strongest individuals.
“That lord looks so young. I wonder which faction he's from.”
Just as everyone was speculating about Zhou Ming's identity and the purpose of his visit, one hunter suddenly raised a small booklet in his hand and shouted,
“I know! I know!”
“That's Lord Zhou Ming from Qinghui Base in the north!”
The speaker was obviously an enthusiast of the Alliance's Transcendent experts.
He had even gone out of his way to purchase a book introducing the Alliance's Transcendent experts, much like an avid fan following celebrities.
Hearing this, everyone immediately crowded around him to learn more about Zhou Ming.
A short while later, after hearing Zhou Ming's achievements in detail, many people could only sigh that they had wasted their lives.
After all, the vast majority of them were still Apprentice Beast Tamers, despite being no younger than Zhou Ming.