Chapter 40

Outside the southern city of Nanye in Yuzhang County, a dense crowd gathered, their expressions devout as they gazed at the massive projection screen in front of them.

Not only were there commoners, but also sons of the gentry mixed in the crowd. Even more, there were county officials protected by many soldiers, with a middle-aged man at the center of the group. Despite being far from the crowd, the surrounding guards did not dare to relax.

This man was none other than the current Prefect of Yuzhang, Zhou Shu.

"Sir, these Qian bandits are too rampant. Do they think we have already been conquered? Sir, should we send people to arrest them?" A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar said angrily, but the shock in his eyes could not be hidden.

Zhou Shu was too lazy to answer this idiotic question. Did you think no one had thought of this before?

Not long ago, when these Qian bandits first entered Yuzhang County and began broadcasting these magical images, officials did not fail to send troops to arrest them. However, the effect of these magical images was too outstanding, and the people were extremely supportive of the Qian bandits. Under the protection of the people, the Qian bandits left smoothly.

Not only that, they broadcasted in various places. As more people saw the images, the support they received increased, and even some small gentry families began to curry favor. Especially as the Qian army's campaign in Danyang County progressed smoothly, the Qian bandits became even more rampant.

They even boldly broadcasted outside the city, and when the local county magistrate tried to arrest them, it almost sparked a civilian uprising. The soldiers sent out were directly defeated by the people, forcing the county magistrate to personally come to watch the 'heavenly magical treasure' being broadcast. Otherwise, the people would have rebelled.

So now, no one in the entire Yuzhang County dared to touch these 'rural film teams' who, according to legend, held the magical treasures granted by King Qian Zhang Hao, showcasing the Qian laws and the might of the Qian army to the people.

The propaganda effect brought by the advanced technology even surprised Zhang Hao. When the Divine Might Army attacked Danyang County, they initially faced some resistance, but later, it was almost like they were just receiving control of various places. Many county magistrates surrendered, and some people even spontaneously occupied cities to welcome the Qian army.

The events in Danyang County made the people of Yuzhang County quite uneasy. If they intervened, they feared an immediate uprising; if they did nothing, they saw the growing unrest among the people, as if they were waiting for death.

As the prefect, Zhou Shu was helpless. This time, he came out personally to see just how astonishing the images spread by the so-called magical treasure were. After watching, Zhou Shu was shocked. Especially noticing the fanaticism on the faces of the people below, he felt a chill run down his spine...

Stepping out of the time portal, Zhang Hao still had a smile that he couldn't suppress.

The Three Kingdoms world had developed very smoothly in recent times. Not only had Huang Zhong already pacified Kuaiji County and begun to rest, but the Divine Might Army had also taken Danyang County. What surprised Zhang Hao the most was that the Prefect of Yuzhang, Zhou Shu, had surrendered the entire county.

This meant that in just four months, the southern part of Yangzhou, east of the Yangtze River, had been completely occupied by the Qian army. To be honest, the most time-consuming part was the march.

As the army advanced, the temporal energy collected by Zhang Hao's time portal increased. Additionally, there was something that pleasantly surprised him. Besides the temporal energy obtained from actions that altered the course of history, the time portal also collected another type of energy.

Perhaps because Zhang Hao's performance was too successful, the religious system he promoted quickly became widespread, and the time portal actually received a large amount of faith energy. Although faith energy was a relatively low-level form of energy compared to temporal energy, the time portal could purify and convert it into temporal energy.

This gave Zhang Hao another way to collect energy, and it was a continuous and steady source, which naturally made him very happy.

Humming a tune, he found his clothes in a box and changed into them. This was not Zhang Hao's home, but a warehouse he rented near the Tianhe Craft Factory, which was very quiet with a large yard.

Since the uprising began in the Three Kingdoms world, Zhang Hao had set up a small single room in the warehouse for temporal transitions.

He did this out of necessity. After the uprising, the situation was tense, and if an emergency arose, he might not have time to return to the modern world.

This was a problem. Previously, Zhang Hao would appear every day or two to make a phone call or go out for a walk.

But now, during this tense period, he couldn't control the time. If he stayed away for too long, the security in the villa complex might notice and cause trouble.

Sometimes he found it quite ironic. He had moved from a rental apartment to a villa he bought, but the strict security measures in the villa complex actually restricted him.

Although such worries might be unnecessary, for safety, Zhang Hao didn't mind the trouble. After all, it wasn't much of a hassle.

After changing his clothes, Zhang Hao went directly to the warehouse and stored the cannons sent by the craft factory in his storage space. In the Three Kingdoms world, even with the best efforts to improve technology, the cast cannon barrels were still not safe or durable enough, so for now, they could only be manufactured by the craft factory, which was not difficult.

Moreover, the power of the cannons in the Three Kingdoms world, especially their intimidating effect, satisfied him. Since it was a significant advantage, he naturally wanted to expand it as much as possible.

There were also several projectors in the warehouse, used to expand the scale of the 'rural film teams' in the Three Kingdoms world.

At this moment, his phone rang. After storing the last projector in his storage space, Zhang Hao picked up the phone. This was the phone he left in the modern world, and he hadn't had time to check it when he returned.

"What? Does Linlang miss me again?" Zhang Hao said with a smile after answering the call. During the entire summer, he often went out to play with Su Linlang and Shu Yun, even bringing his parents to Qinzhou, with Shu Yun and Su Linlang accompanying them. They had become quite familiar with each other.

Su Linlang was a lively and outgoing girl, and joking was a common occurrence.

"Where have you been these past few days? Why can't I get through to you?" Su Linlang's tone was sharp, and before Zhang Hao could react, she bombarded him with a series of questions, making his expression turn serious.

"Tell me the truth, where did your jade artifacts come from? Why are the police investigating them, even taking photos and asking us to keep them safe, and informing us about the sales information?"

"My jade artifacts are definitely fine, don't worry about that. It might be a misunderstanding. Um, give me their number, I'll ask them myself. Don't worry."

After hanging up, Zhang Hao originally planned to store the items in his storage space and return to the Three Kingdoms world. Now, it seemed he couldn't do that.

But what's going on? Why would the police investigate those jade artifacts for no reason?

Zhang Hao naturally knew where his jade artifacts came from. Although he couldn't say it outright, he hadn't stolen or robbed them, so what was the problem?

With such a huge secret, Zhang Hao naturally felt some resistance towards the authorities. However, after being tempered in the Three Kingdoms world, his mindset and thoughts had changed significantly. His first thought now was how to solve this problem.

Although he was somewhat annoyed, he knew that he couldn't avoid this issue, as it would only become more troublesome.

Su Linlang sent Zhang Hao a phone number, which was the contact information of the police officer who investigated the jade artifacts at Chengxin Jewelry. Su Linlang had already seen their credentials and confirmed their identity. Besides the phone number, she also told Zhang Hao that if he needed any help, he should feel free to ask her.

Zhang Hao was somewhat grateful for Su Linlang's kindness. The girl had even deliberately not told Shu Yun, fearing that she would worry.

Zhang Hao checked the missed calls on his phone and found the number Su Linlang had sent, along with several other unknown numbers.

After some thought, Zhang Hao directly called the number, introduced himself, and asked what the caller wanted.

To his slight surprise, the voice on the other end was clearly that of a young woman. After hearing Zhang Hao introduce himself, she seemed a bit surprised and then complained about how hard it was to find him.

From her informal manner of speaking, it was clear that she was not only young but also relatively new to her job. In the call, she directly asked Zhang Hao to go to the city police station to assist with the investigation.