Chapter 1

After a night of rain, the air, which had been filled with unbearable coal dust, was suddenly refreshed. Zhang Tie breathed in the rare fresh air as he walked alone on the road to school. If it weren't for the towering chimneys in the distance, spewing black smoke into the sky, the sky would be even bluer, Zhang Tie thought idly. As he walked, he carefully avoided the black puddles on the cement ground, which, due to the proximity of the industrial area, were black and smelly after the rain. This city, while providing safety, also brought constraints and crowding.

Zhang Tie looked into the distance; the group of huge chimneys stood out sharply against the sky washed clean by the rain.

The teacher said that those chimneys were symbols of human civilization and the guarantee of human survival and reproduction. Looking at the tall chimneys of the factory, Zhang Tie felt they were like his recent **. The black smoke they emitted was like the liquid he ejaculated. The black smoke polluted the air, and the liquid polluted his underwear; they were the same. He couldn't quite remember who it was in his dream last night, but this morning, his underwear felt sticky and uncomfortable. This was the third time this week. Because it had been raining, the first two pairs of underwear hadn't dried yet. In this era of extreme scarcity of various living materials, Zhang Tie had only four pairs of underwear. Two were made from his father's old undershirts, and the other two were saved for him by his older brother. So this morning, Zhang Tie could only sadly wear a half-dry, half-wet pair of underwear to school.

When the coarse fabric was half-dry and half-wet, it felt very hard, making it uncomfortable to wear. When he walked, it rubbed against his little brother, causing some pain and making him feel cold. A gust of wind made Zhang Tie shiver, and his 15-year-old, green-blooded little brother immediately wilted. The feeling was really terrible.

It was said that before the Great Catastrophe, human society was extremely affluent. At that time, underwear was sold by the dozen, and not just underwear, but many things, such as precious cigarettes, alcohol, meat, and all kinds of strange items, could be easily bought from stores, or even from supermarkets, where goods were piled up like mountains. A day's work for an ordinary man could earn enough food, such as rice or wheat, to last a person half a month or even a month, and sometimes more. It was said that in that era, humans could use a mysterious energy called "electricity" to do all sorts of incredible things, and with various powerful weapons, humans became the unique rulers of this planet, arrogant and ignorant, thinking they were invincible. It was truly the last happy years of humanity!

Zhang Tie often thought that perhaps it was the endless greed of humans in those infinitely happy years that made the heavens look on with disapproval, leading to the Great Catastrophe and the God Star. The heavens brought humans down from the peak in one night, returning them to the Stone Age and forever depriving them of the magic brought by technology, such as electricity, nuclear energy, explosives, and many other magical weapons. According to the most widely accepted theory today, the mysterious particles in the rays carried by the God Star caused a fundamental change in all matter on this planet at the most microscopic level. The planet, which was once like a pot of boiling water, was transformed by the addition of salt or chili powder by a god or some powerful being, making it no longer the same planet.

Perhaps the only fortunate thing was that after the Great Catastrophe, everything and all the rules changed, but steel remained as hard as ever, still able to forge swords and armor to arm human armies. Black coal still burned, providing light, heat, and energy to humans. The combination of these two brought about everything, from swords and armor to heat and steam engines, which became the greatest reliance for human survival in this era...

It took more than forty minutes to walk from home to school, passing through the impoverished areas of the western part of Black Flame City and the barren areas at the edge of the city's industrial zone. Black Flame City got its name from the nearby Black Flame Mountains. It was said that before the Great Catastrophe, the Black Flame Mountains were one of the longest mountain ranges on the Kunang continent. At that time, humans had created machines that could fly in the sky, faster than sound. Even so, it took several months to fly from one end of the Black Flame Mountains to the other. For Black Flame City, which was actually near a small branch of the Black Flame Mountains, this small branch was still over 20,000 kilometers long. This length was a distance that many people in this era might never reach in their entire lives.

During the Great Catastrophe, the geological and tectonic movements on this planet were so drastic that the vast Kunang continent, which was said to be countless billions of miles wide, was divided into several pieces like a bread being fought over by a group of children. Some parts disappeared, and the landscape changed dramatically. Today, people can no longer imagine the grandeur of the Black Flame Mountains and the vastness of this continent. However, even so, the world is still too large for everyone. On the school map, 800 kilometers west and north of Black Flame City are still unexplored black areas, and no one knows what is there. The area south of the Black Flame Mountains, with an area of over 400 million square kilometers and a population of over 900 million, consisting of many countries, city-states, and family powers, is just a small, narrow strip on the entire continent map. This narrow strip, with its high population density, is called the Blackson Human Corridor on the map.

After the Great Catastrophe, it took humans nearly 100 years to understand what had happened on this planet, and then another 100 years to slowly recover some strength. After humans recovered some strength, they were shocked to find that they were no longer the only masters of this planet. Not only that, but the strange monsters and dark races that emerged after the Great Catastrophe treated humans as delicious snacks and objects of enslavement, making the planet more dangerous than ever. Human survival faced unprecedented challenges.

It is now the 889th year of the Black Iron Era after the Great Catastrophe. The surviving humans have reproduced and re-established themselves on the Kunang continent, and with the impetus of countless steel and steam engines, they have reignited their ambition to conquer the world and explore the entire planet.

As a testament to human recovery and renewed ambition, Black Flame City was built less than 40 years ago. Among the many human countries and city-states on the southern side of the Black Flame Mountains, Black Flame City is a relatively young city, a city built by merchants and factory owners, an industrial city with a seat in the Andaman City-State Alliance Parliament. Like most emerging human cities in this era, which are built around certain resources, Black Flame City is located in an area rich in coal and mineral resources. The city and its surrounding 3 million people almost all depend on the rich underground resources near Black Flame City for their livelihood. The Black Flame City Coal and Steel Federation rules the city, and every day, endless steam locomotives transport coal, steel, and the swords, armor, and various weapons and equipment produced by the factories to the outside, and bring things from the outside into the city.

Below the largest ** is the factory where Zhang Tie's father works, a steel plant that operates almost non-stop 24 hours a day. Since the day Zhang Tie was born, the chimney of that factory has never stopped spewing black smoke. In this era, the determination of humans to rise again is proven by that sturdy chimney.

As usual, when Zhang Tie arrived at school, the school's military representative and head of discipline, Captain Colin, stood at the school gate, his towering body and one eye as big as a bull's staring sternly at each student entering Black Flame City's Seventh National School. A half-meter-long, heavy iron rod was being slapped in his large, somewhat frightening hand, making a loud noise. Each student entering the school gate dared not look at his face, which was scarred and covered by an eye patch, and quickly passed by with their heads down.

"Stop!" A poor soul walking not far in front of Zhang Tie was called out by Captain Colin. When Captain Colin spoke, his thunderous voice made everyone around him jump. After seeing that they were not the ones called, everyone quickly lowered their heads and rushed through the school gate, silently praying for the poor soul.

The poor soul's face turned white with fear, and his legs trembled so much that he could hardly speak, "C... Captain Colin..."

This one-eyed giant, the most terrifying person in the school and possibly the entire Black Flame City, preferred to be called Captain Colin rather than Director Colin. This knowledge was a valuable experience brought by the blood and tears of many predecessors in the school. In front of this man, who was said to be able to fight terrible monsters, any resistance or rebellion was futile. Such resistance only brought him greater pleasure.

Captain Colin didn't say anything, just pointed at the poor soul's school uniform pants with his iron rod. For some reason, probably due to the rain, the poor soul's pants had a small string of mud stains, which, in Captain Colin's eyes, was a serious offense.

"I... I'll go clean it right away?"

Captain Colin raised his wrist, looked at the shiny watch on his sleeve without expression, and posed for a few seconds, then started slapping the iron rod in his hand.

Captain Colin's action of looking at his watch made Zhang Tie suspect that he was just showing off his expensive watch, and the action of slapping the iron rod reminded Zhang Tie of a big gray wolf wagging its tail.

"If I see you like this when school is over, you know what the punishment will be!"

"Yes... Yes..." The poor soul ran into the school like he had been granted a reprieve. Zhang Tie was wondering why Captain Colin was so lenient today, but then the one-eyed giant turned his head and looked at Zhang Tie, quickly tidied his lion-like hair, straightened his back, and puffed out his well-developed chest, making an imposing pose. He even made his chest muscles shake exaggeratedly, like a flirtatious woman, and a smile appeared on his fierce face, which startled Zhang Tie.

"Good morning, Miss Daina!"

A fragrant breeze blew past Zhang Tie, and a mature and beautiful figure walked past him. Without looking, Zhang Tie knew who it was. The dream from last night suddenly became clear. Just seeing the exaggerated curves of her waist and hips from behind made Zhang Tie feel like his breath was about to stop. In the attention of all the male students at the school gate, the beautiful Miss Daina, with her curly brown hair, walked into the school. The proud goddess only nodded at the one-eyed giant who had greeted her, and the one-eyed giant's face turned red with excitement. In a moment of inattention, the iron rod in his hand bent, revealing his terrifying strength.

At Black Flame City's Seventh National School, Miss Daina, a widow whose husband died on the front lines shortly after their marriage, was the dream lover of all the male students and the object of their fantasies. She was a goddess, the only scenery in the school, a flower blooming on the cliffs and steep slopes, and Zhang Tie's secret crush. Because of her, the lives of the wild beasts in the school, who were in their adolescence, were no longer so tedious...

"In two years, I'll have enough money to buy a house in the city core!" The goddess walked away, and the one-eyed giant shouted at her back, like a lion in heat, no, a wild boar. This disgusting wild boar, thinking of Zhang Tie's goddess Daina suffering under this beast, made Zhang Tie wish... that person was himself...

"What are you looking at?" The one-eyed giant, returning to his true nature, scanned the crowd with a fierce look. With a roar, everyone, including Zhang Tie, fled into the school gate. The air still had a faint fragrance, and Zhang Tie greedily inhaled a few breaths. The beautiful and mature figure always made Zhang Tie feel inferior, and he didn't have the courage to look at her directly. If Miss Daina was a noble and beautiful swan gliding gracefully on a calm lake, Zhang Tie felt he was just a wild duck, still covered in down, and even worse, one that had fallen into a coal-dust-filled mud pit. Zhang Tie looked down at the old leather boots his brother had left, feeling a vague sense of dejection. Even Captain Colin was striving to pursue Miss Daina. What could he, a poor student, offer her? **? How many years would it take for him to save enough money to buy a house in a safe city with high walls, and how many years would it take for him to have the qualifications to live in the city? Thirty years or forty years? Thinking about this, Zhang Tie's mood plummeted, but the enticing fragrance of mature female bodies in the air made the thing in his pants hard again, shamefully...

As soon as he entered the school gate, a large stone wall with the words "Welcome to the Black Iron Era" greeted him.

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