Chapter 97

At the highest point of the Wild Wolf Castle, besides the blue flag, a red flag was also raised. The red flag indicated that there was important news or an announcement to be released. Within a few kilometers of the Wild Wolf Valley, everyone could see the red flag.

Zhang Tie knew the content of the announcement by the evening of that day. When he sent Pandora and the group of girls who had already decided to team up with the Airplane Brotherhood for the trial back to the Wild Wolf Castle, he saw the content of the announcement.

Compared to the shock of the other members of the Airplane Brotherhood, Zhang Tie was somewhat prepared. While everyone in the Wild Wolf Valley was discussing the events in Black Flame City, no one knew that the instigator of the Black Flame City incident was Zhang Tie, due to a series of coincidences. This incident not only became a hot topic in certain circles in the Wild Wolf Valley but also in Black Flame City at that moment. No one could answer who sent the mysterious letter that triggered the Black Flame City incident. Even with all their efforts, the Black Flame City authorities could not trace back to who had mailed the letter from the mailbox near the city square post office. This became an unsolvable mystery. It was only after the Black Flame City incident that everyone learned that the Red Scarves had been hiding in a secret location less than 150 kilometers from Black Flame City, ready to collaborate with the New Moon Caravan to create chaos. After the New Moon Caravan was eliminated by the Black Flame City military, the Red Scarves, seeing that their plans were exposed and there was no hope, reluctantly withdrew from their hiding place. When the Red Scarves reappeared, they caused the disaster in Lance City, dragging the Sun God Dynasty into the murky waters of the alliance.

"Mysterious Informant" was the title Zhang Tie earned after the Black Flame City incident. Some said the "Mysterious Informant" was a traitor within the Red Scarves, others said it was a reclusive master living in Black Flame City, and still others said it was a political rival of General Lin Changjiang, the governor of the northern border of the Norman Empire... In short, there were all kinds of speculations, but no one could guess that the "Mysterious Informant" was just a young man from an ordinary high school in Black Flame City, who was now undergoing survival training in the Wild Wolf Valley. And just the day before, this young man had almost ruined the good fortune of the nobles in Black Flame City who were waiting for restorative potions.

Sometimes, those detailed and logically sound rumors seem very plausible, but the truth is often full of dramatic twists. After all, life and the world are not always so logical. Just like the famous butterfly effect theory that Zhang Tie had learned about in his school's natural history class: a blacksmith dropped a nail on the road, the nail injured a horse's hoof, the injured horse caused a knight to fall, the knight lost a battle, the battle influenced a campaign, the campaign decided the outcome of a war, and the war ultimately led to the fall of a nation.

Zhang Tie had also heard this butterfly effect theory in his school's natural history class. It was only after understanding the entire process of the Black Flame City incident that Zhang Tie suddenly realized that he had unconsciously become that nail that injured the horse's hoof. A collision with Hake at the train station had unexpectedly changed so many things.

That nail did change some details, causing a bit of a jolt, but the Norman Empire and the Sun God Dynasty, like massive wheels, continued to roll forward with their enormous inertia, unstoppable, crushing the Andaman Alliance and Black Flame City. The ripple of the rolling wheel reached the Wild Wolf Valley, causing a massive wave.

Since many people would have to serve in the military after graduation, and once in the military, they would face the two giants, the Norman Empire and the Sun God Dynasty, possibly even encountering their armies on the battlefield, all the trainees in the Wild Wolf Valley felt a great pressure when looking at their future. Faced with the unknown, many felt a sense of confusion and fear.

That night, everyone in the Airplane Brotherhood, except Zhang Tie, was training with all their might, practicing the basic techniques of the Iron Blood Divine Fist. They continued until they were exhausted and lay panting on the grass.

Zhang Tie could have held out a bit longer, but seeing that Baghdad was gritting his teeth and glaring at him, his forehead veins bulging as he performed the Tiger Crouching Stance, Zhang Tie pretended to be exhausted and fell to the ground. About ten seconds after Zhang Tie "gave up," Baghdad, who could no longer hold on, also breathed a sigh of relief and ended his Tiger Crouching Stance. For Baghdad, losing his position as the top fighter in the Airplane Brotherhood would be a significant blow.

The two moons in the sky, one a silver crescent and the other a pale blue full moon, hung in the sky, one large and one small. The moonlight poured down, casting a beautiful silver-blue glow over the Wild Wolf Valley. Under the two moons, the starry sky seemed even more brilliant. Cicadas chirped in the dragon claw trees, crickets chirped in the surrounding grass, and the distant mountains echoed with the long howls of wolves, making the entire Wild Wolf Valley even more serene.

Everyone lay quietly, gazing at the sky, for about ten minutes without a word.

"If I die on the battlefield in the future, and any of you are still alive, remember to deliver my pension to my family, every last coin. This money should help my two younger brothers live better!" Sha Wen said quietly. Sha Wen was a good guy, but sometimes he was overly pessimistic.

"You'd better stay alive. If you die, we'll just use your pension to visit prostitutes and let your bastard father and two bastard brothers go to hell!" Xista cursed.

"Asshole!" Sha Wen cursed softly, then laughed.

"I've heard that the Iron Horn Legion under the governor of the northern border of the Norman Empire and the Radiant Feather of the Sun God Dynasty are made up of war maniacs and lunatics. We won't face them, will we...?" Doug said with some worry.

"Don't be so pessimistic. We probably won't be so unlucky to face the Norman Empire and the Sun God Dynasty right after graduation. For the entire Andaman Alliance, these two countries are superpowers, each stronger than the Andaman Alliance. Because of the huge power disparity, the Andaman Alliance would have no chance of winning a war against these two countries. So, this war is unlikely to happen. The wealthy and powerful are even more afraid of death than we are. A war that is destined to be lost, they wouldn't risk their lives and wealth for it. Two children might fight over a piece of candy, but a strong man and a child wouldn't fight, and two strong men wouldn't fight a child at the same time..." Lai Te said, lying down.

"Yeah, I think Lai Te is right. Don't be so stressed!" Bari said.

"But even so, the future of the Andaman Alliance won't be bright. In the history of the Blackson Human Corridor, there were once more than seventy city-states, but now there are fewer and fewer. All city-states have only two paths: either a genius or a powerful figure turns the city-states into a unified nation, or the city-states disintegrate and are swallowed by surrounding powers. The Andaman Alliance has no such genius or powerful leader, and the Norman Empire and the Sun God Dynasty won't let the Andaman Alliance become a unified nation. So, the Andaman Alliance and Black Flame City will likely be swallowed by others. Whether by the Norman Empire or the Sun God Dynasty, the new regions will be under strict rule for at least several decades. If this issue isn't resolved peacefully, even if we don't die on the battlefield, life won't be easy..." Sha Wen continued, pessimistically.

Sha Wen's words made everyone silent again. No one contradicted him because everyone knew he was right, and this was the heaviest and most irresistible truth.

"So, even if this issue doesn't push us onto the battlefield as cannon fodder, we will all become slaves of a fallen nation. Well, although the Andaman Alliance and Black Flame City aren't exactly countries, the meaning is similar!" Xista said weakly.

"I think... this issue will be resolved peacefully in the end!" Bari said hesitantly.

"But I still feel something is off. The Andaman Alliance has been peaceful with the Sun God Dynasty and the Norman Empire for more than half a century. Why are these two countries suddenly ganging up on us now?" Doug, who was a bit slow, asked a key question.

For some reason, listening to Doug, Zhang Tie thought of the squirrels busily storing pine nuts for the winter.

"Whatever the reason behind this, if it concerns us, we will eventually find out. Why worry about these issues...?" Baghdad said solemnly. "How to improve our own strength is the only thing we need to worry about. In this era, those without strength have no freedom, and only those with strength can control their destiny. If we all master the Iron Blood Divine Fist, would we still worry about these trivial issues?"

"Big Head, why aren't you saying anything? Aren't you worried...?" Bari, lying on the ground, turned his head to ask Zhang Tie.

"I think everyone is right, but to be honest, I'm not too concerned about the future of Black Flame City and the Andaman Alliance. Maybe it's because I'm part of the Hua Clan, a non-mainstream minority in the Andaman Alliance and Black Flame City, and we can't bear more responsibility for the fate of the alliance and Black Flame City. Our family has already sacrificed a life for the Andaman Alliance and Black Flame City. No matter what, I don't want anyone else in my family to make any more sacrifices for Black Flame City and the Andaman Alliance. I don't want to make any more sacrifices. My life doesn't have many ambitions. As long as the people around me are happy, as long as I have money and women, that's enough..." Looking at the beautiful starry sky, Zhang Tie smiled. The events in Black Flame City and the Andaman Alliance had a significant impact on him. Zhang Tie realized that even if he had changed something by chance, the final outcome was still unchanged, at least the fate of the people around him was unchanged. This was the helplessness and frustration of a small person.

Baghdad was right. Instead of hoping the world will change as we imagine, we should focus on becoming stronger. Being strong is the only real strength, and everything else is just talk. To become strong, Zhang Tie's biggest trump card was the Black Iron Castle and the small tree.

Zhang Tie never thought of himself as a selfish person, but sometimes the Black Iron Castle and the small tree made him feel selfish. If this era is a massive wheel rolling forward, Zhang Tie felt that everyone was being chased by this wheel, sweating and running desperately forward. But he could calmly step out of the path of the wheel, focusing on his own small world. This small world is also a wheel, a wheel that belongs only to Zhang Tie. It is still very small, and Zhang Tie is pushing it forward, enjoying the ride. This wheel, though small, moves very fast, carrying Zhang Tie forward at a speed faster than the era's wheel, leaving others behind. This feeling made Zhang Tie feel a bit heartless. While others were worried about the future of Black Flame City and the Andaman Alliance and the possibility of war, he was thinking about how many baskets of ore to bring into the Black Iron Castle the next day to quickly increase its basic energy reserves. When everyone was worried about becoming third-class