Chapter 365: A Year of Abundant Harvest (5)
The moment the guard warned her, Ji Huaisu had already leaped high. She knocked the strange guard unconscious with one punch, and reached out to grab Fifeide with her other hand.
Fifid hurriedly summoned his divine shield, but this time the pale green light was ripped apart. It was the Splitting Technique that transformed into Shadow Claws! Ji Huaisu used Shadow Claws to tear a rift through the shield. She grabbed Fifid by the scruff of the neck and pinned him against the wall.
"What are you doing sneaking around like that? Tell me the truth if you don't want to die!" Ji Huaisu threatened, releasing a terrifying murderous aura.
"Boo!" Fifid let out a shrill, mouse-like scream. Even though he was incredibly fat, this farmer was no warrior after all. Those who hadn't experienced Shura Field couldn't resist such momentum! "Captain Lingfeng, help me, boo!"
Ji Huaisu suddenly dropped Fifeide and leaped back. Two flashes of cold light flashed by, piercing the thick wall like a knife cutting through butter. They were two narrow, rainbow-colored sleeve arrows. If she hadn't acted in time, it would have been her hands that were nailed to the wall.
Her whereabouts discovered, Ji Huaisu summoned her jade armor for protection. As she changed her attire, she struck out with her gauntleted fist. The back of another man's fist, carrying a powerful gust of wind, collided with hers. The collision of their fists unleashed two opposing elemental forces, sending a frigid wind through the corridor!
Ji Huaisu retracted his fist and cautiously stepped back. The flickering light illuminated the attacker's form. She was a slender woman with short hair, clad in black wooden soft armor and a half-covered helmet. Several points of cold light flickered between her fingers, invisible wind blades. Her fists were wrapped with invisible blades.
Ji Huaisu shook his hands and said, "How insidious! It doesn't go in line with the main theme of your city-state."
"Only nobles and idiots consider morality and justice. In a military factory, practicality comes first." Captain Ling Feng raised his hand, as if to salute. "Fourth Captain Ling Feng, I arrest you for attempted manslaughter."
Ji Huaisu jerked her head back, a thin blade of wind grazing the tip of her nose. That gesture wasn't a salute at all, but a sneak attack from Ling Feng. She unleashed a dense stream of lightning in response, but Ling Feng vanished silently in front of her, the lightning barely piercing the mirage-like phantom.
The communicator vibrated violently. "Please evacuate as soon as possible. The fourth team is also responsible for clearing out the city-state. They are actually Jingsha's assassination force."
"I can already feel it...!"
Ji Huaisu felt a flash of light. It was Ling Feng who instantly appeared in the blind spot of his vision and achieved short-distance instant movement by using elementalization.
She swung her shadow blade, slashing across a wide area, but Ling Feng floated away as lightly as a piece of paper. Ling Feng repeated her old trick, throwing another rainbow-colored sleeve arrow. Ji Huaisu rolled to avoid it, completely disregarding her image. She knew she couldn't withstand the anti-law rainbow attack at this point.
Ling Feng took this opportunity to intrude, launching a three-part combo of elbow, fist, and fingertips: low, middle, and top. Ji Huaisu gathered a shield of light to block the initial elbow strike, then withdrew with her jade armor to withstand the subsequent blows. However, the pain erupted within her body a moment later, a shuddering sensation akin to blood loss that left her mind blank.
The part that was hit by Ling Feng was glowing, and the light broke through her body and formed rainbow-colored flowers on her body surface.
"Feel it? This flower will absorb your emotions. It's most effective against ascenders on the Supreme Path." Ling Feng said, "Let me tell you one more thing. Once this flower is torn, you will become an idiot due to the turbulent emotions. So, stop playing tricks...!"
Ji Huaisu ignored him and forcibly mobilized his strength to prepare for a thunderstorm. However, Ling Feng swung out a slender, whip-like soft sword, which dragged a long light and bound her.
New flowers blossomed upon contact, and the chaotic flow of emotions made Ji Huaisu feel a pain as if his internal organs were rupturing. Ling Feng clenched his fists at this moment and smashed them towards the rainbow-colored flowers!
"Stop it, Captain Ling Feng! We are not murderers!"
Ling Feng's fist stopped in front of the flower. She retracted her fist and turned around, looking silently at Feifeide who had finally caught his breath.
"They're all privately manufacturing arms, and you still say that..."
"That's a different matter." Fifid breathed hard. "Both sides are fighting for the city-state! We're not working so hard to hurt good people! Boo!"
Ling Feng shook his hand in disdain and stepped aside. Fifeide came over, rubbing his neck, and said in a deep voice, "You have your reasons for opposing the bill, and we have our reasons for supporting independence. If you truly wish to oppose us, please first understand the full situation. I'm also speaking to those behind you!"
Ji Huaisu had seen many storms and waves, so he was not panicked at all at this moment: "Okay, let's see what tricks you have up your sleeve."
"Follow me!"
Feifeide walked away angrily. Lingfeng pushed Ji Huaisu hard and pulled the rope to pull her to catch up. Ji Huaisu muttered softly as she walked, which made Lingfeng feel irritated for no reason: "What are you going to do now?"
"Nothing, I'm just holding a grudge. On the night of July 30th, Captain Ling Feng abused his official power for personal gain. He assaulted innocent tourists three times, slashed innocent tourists twice, attempted assassination on innocent tourists twice, and used ropes to maliciously restrain innocent tourists once..." Ji Huaisu said with a smile, "You're also a public servant. Why don't you develop good habits? You should carefully record every law enforcement process. You'll need it for reconciliation later."
Ling Feng kicked her without a word, and Ji Huaisu shouted, "You assaulted innocent tourists four times!"
"That's enough, Captain Ling Feng. You are the captain of the Divine Guards after all!"
Ling Feng said coldly: "It's her fault for making me irritated."
Fifeide sighed inwardly, wondering why this crazy woman from Supreme Road had to be the captain. He led the two down to the fifth underground floor, into a confined space made of one-way transparent material. The floor was littered with hamster cages of various sizes, all opened, and the imprisoned citizens were nowhere to be found.
"This is the first stop for the volunteers who arrive underground. You must be curious about why they volunteer to work. I'll tell you the reason right now."
The confined space suddenly lit up, its light gathering on the wall, projecting an old black-and-white photograph. Withered fruit trees, barren soil, and feeble old oxen plowing the fields. The small animals, their fur dry, lined up in a long line to receive cool water and shrunken fruit.
Ji Huaisu frowned. She was well acquainted with the days of poverty, so she could tell at a glance that this was true. The citizens' eyes were filled with confusion and fear, a worry about an uncertain future.
“Is this a historical famine?”
"History?" Ling Feng shook his head. "You really don't know anything about city-states!"
The projection shifted to color, the black and white of history transforming into the familiar hues of reality. The frame of the photograph shattered, and the camera zoomed out, revealing more of the scene. There were more than one line of people seeking food relief; the fields were practically filled with long lines. Emergency tents were set up in the few open spaces, and scores of wounded soldiers groaned in their beds, their families weeping in hunger.
Ling Feng stood next to the "old photo" and sneered, "Let me tell you when this history happened. This is the fourth pulse sequence from 20 years ago!"
Ji Huaisu was stunned: "20 years? This is the city-state of Jingsha!"
Anyone who heard this would find it absurd, for Jingsha was the furthest thing from famine. Its land was fertile, its produce abundant, and it served as the granary for the entire Allied forces. How could anyone starve in a place where even a casual seed scattered on the ground would yield fruit?
"I know what you're thinking. If you farm normally in the city-state, you won't starve to death," said Fifeide. "That's true! However, this conclusion is based on the premise that farmers can farm normally. And the farmers in our city-state are also the makers of weapons!"
Ji Huaisu suddenly came to his senses. Feifeide said sternly, "The city-state of Jingsha rotates to the front line of the desperate battle, every 30 years, and each rotation lasts a full ten years. During the 20 years when we are not responsible for the war, Jingsha can guarantee self-sufficiency. But once the war comes, our fields will be completely transformed from farmland to arsenal. What we grow in the fields will no longer be fruits, but war plants!
Of course, Jingsha has its own internal reserves. We will gradually accumulate food over the next 20 years, and in the early stages of the war, we will half-farm and half-fight to maintain basic consumption... However, the balance between these two is actually very difficult to control. The operation of this system is entirely dependent on Master Shenshu's 30-year development plan for the city-state. If the war reaches a stalemate and the supply balance is disrupted, misfortune will cascade like an avalanche.
"Twenty years ago, the foreign offensive was incredibly fierce, and our situation was exacerbated by the loss of divine support. To protect our city-state, we were forced to mobilize all our resources and devote ourselves entirely to the production of war plants... Back then, the thorns were completely indiscriminate; even the nobles of Mansa Star Castle were cultivating vegetables! It took us so much effort to finally hold this front!
But after the victory, the good days didn't arrive... The interior of Jingsha was filled with weapons, and the food supply was almost exhausted. We had no choice but to use the remaining weapons as emergency rations. The dried fruits you see in the photos are actually weapons that were urgently made into food. But just gnawing on guns and artillery can't feed 1.7 billion people!
"A great famine was imminent, but the people of Jingsha were demoralized. Having barely survived ten years, the citizens were no longer able to cope with the ensuing disaster," Ling Feng said. "But as you might have imagined, the famine never occurred. This is the city-state of Jingsha, and we always have the support of the sacred tree."
The projected image changed, and the barren fields became fertile again, and new buds sprouted from the withered fruit trees. The autumn fields welcomed an unprecedented harvest, and the people filled their stomachs with this miraculous harvest.
But miracles always come at a price. Out of sight, Old Jingsha lay sick in bed. He had seemed a healthy man then, but with the arrival of the harvest, he grew pale and thin. Because he had once again dedicated his strength to feeding the starving civilians.
"We survived, once again thanks to the devotion of the sacred tree." Ling Feng said coldly, "But what about next time? What about the next time? Will the war be so lucky again? Can the sacred tree still have such power?"
"Times are changing too rapidly. The once-sturdy defenses of the righteous are now reduced to frail city-states. We have appealed countless times for support in Jingsha, but Longquan Township, willing to help, is far away. Shura Island is powerful but plagued by internal strife. Dustless Land and Paradise are struggling to cope, and the legendary righteous force remains silent within the Heavenly Prison.
What else can we do? What else can Jingsha do?
Ling Feng sneered, "Let me make this clear to you. This farce beneath the Fourth Vein is preparation for war after independence. Parriman himself is certainly a jerk, but the city-state chose Parrimanism to save itself. Master Sacred Tree won't survive the next decade, and we can only rely on our own strength to protect the city-state!"
(End of this chapter)
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