Chapter 714: Middleman

Deep within the Iron Spine Mountains, the area was shrouded in gray-black mist year-round.

Thick scale-leaf trees intertwined with one another, their canopies blocking the sky. Only fragmented beams of daylight filtered through the gaps, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the damp ground.

The air was filled with a mixture of sulfur, earth, and the scent of wild beasts. Occasionally, low beast roars could be heard from afar, echoing layer by layer through the mountains.

The two dragonmen advanced slowly along the mountain path, occasionally adjusting their route based on surrounding traces.

“This is it up ahead.”

After walking for several more hours, Halta lowered his voice and pushed aside the obstructing scale-leaf branches.

Once they passed through the final stretch of dense forest, the view suddenly opened up.

A village hidden between the mountain slopes appeared before them.

To be precise, it could not even fully be called a “village.”

An entire section of the mountain wall had been hollowed out. Caves of various sizes were stacked layer upon layer across the slope, connected to one another by stone bridges and plank walkways. Thick stone pillars supported the upper structures, and the edges of the caves were carved with ancient dragon-pattern reliefs.

The patterns were not intricate, yet they carried a rough, desolate beauty.

Firelight leaked out from deep within the caves, making the entire mountainside flicker between light and shadow.

Below the mountain slope lay a leveled open area.

Several massive horned beasts were tethered to stone pillars, feeding. Thick bony armor covered their backs, and hot air snorted from their nostrils. When they occasionally let out low roars, the sound reverberated through the air like muffled thunder.

Jie Ming remained hidden in his ethereal state, quietly hovering among the high tree crowns. His three eyes slowly scanned the entire camp as his spiritual perception spread out silently. A string of information quickly surfaced in his spiritual sea.

Total population… one hundred and twenty-seven.

Average life energy level of adult dragonmen: three to four.

Sixth-level life signature detected… one.

Jie Ming’s gaze paused for a moment deep within the mountain.

Sixth level?

In a small settlement of just over a hundred people, there was actually a sixth-level dragonman.

Moreover, the vast majority of the adult dragonmen here stably maintained three to four levels.

Such density was quite astonishing.

“What an exaggerated racial talent…” Jie Ming evaluated inwardly.

Adult dragonmen reaching the third level sounded unremarkable compared to black giants who were born at the fourth level, but black giants were proper combat units, technological crystals carefully refined by Jie Ming.

The dragonmen achieved this entirely through their own innate talent.

One had to admit that, outside of wizard civilization, most ordinary humans in ordinary civilizations struggled their entire lives to break through the first level of life hierarchy. Even in transcendent civilizations, the third level was enough to qualify someone as an elite warrior.

But the dragonman race was different.

The draconic bloodline within their bodies was indeed powerful. Even without systematic cultivation, they could naturally grow to the third or fourth level upon reaching adulthood.

This was no longer simply “suited for combat.”

For many civilizations, this could truly be called a war race in every sense of the word.

At this moment, several dragonman guards responsible for vigilance had already appeared at the entrance to the mountain path.

They warily sized up the two visiting dragonmen. Their vertical pupils contracted slightly, and their hands never left the weapons at their waists.

“Where are you from?” The lead guard’s voice was low and deep.

Halta, draped in a gray cloak, immediately showed a smile and pulled out a wooden token from his chest.

“Small-time traders. We came once a while ago, selling seasonings and mine salt.”

The guard took the token, examined it, then looked the two up and down for a moment before finally stepping aside.

“Don’t wander around.”

“Understood, understood.”

The two dragonmen nodded repeatedly and entered the village.

Jie Ming maintained his ethereal state and followed at a suitable distance.

The interior of the village was livelier than it appeared from outside.

The constant sound of metal being hammered echoed from the caves. Some dragonmen were processing beast hides, while others transported ore. The air was thick with the heavy smell of roasted meat mixed with sulfur.

Jie Ming paid extra attention to the raised livestock.

They were a type of black four-legged beast covered in bony spikes, standing nearly two meters at the shoulder, with mouths full of jagged fangs.

Although clearly domesticated, their life fluctuations remained stably at the third to fourth level.

“Even the livestock have this level…” Jie Ming narrowed his eyes slightly.

No wonder the dragonman civilization had been able to maintain a dominant position for so long in the past.

These innate conditions were simply too superior.

At this time, the two dragonmen had begun normal trading with the village residents.

They took out seasonings, mine salt, and a few metal tools from their packs in exchange for mountain goods, medicinal herbs, and some ores.

The entire process was practiced and natural, exactly like ordinary small merchants traveling between settlements.

Bargaining voices rose and fell continuously.

“You want to trade this bit of dried scale fruit for two packs of fire salt? No way!”

“It wasn’t this price last time we came.”

“Things have been unstable in the mountains lately. Transportation is much harder.”

The atmosphere seemed rather peaceful, even somewhat boring.

Yet Jie Ming remained patient.

He knew the real transaction would never be conducted openly.

Sure enough.

After most of the transactions were completed and the two dragonmen were preparing to leave, a dragonman who had been lingering nearby quietly approached.

The other party moved very discreetly. He first pretended to pass by, then whispered something.

The two merchants exchanged a glance, did not respond immediately, and continued walking out of the village.

Only after leaving the main activity area did that dragonman follow them.

The three circled around to a shaded corner behind the mountain wall.

There was no firelight here, only the faint noise from distant caves.

None of them wasted words.

The dragonman first took out a heavy small leather pouch from his chest and handed it over quickly. Halta retrieved a wooden box from under his cloak. The two sides exchanged items.

They opened them.

They confirmed.

The entire process took less than ten seconds.

Jie Ming’s spiritual perception captured everything clearly. He confirmed that the traded items were energy crystals and bloodline evolution potions. The moment the wooden box opened, that distinctive energy fluctuation could not escape his senses.

After the transaction ended, the two parties quickly separated.

The Halta brothers left the village as if nothing had happened, while the sneaky dragonman casually blended back into the crowd.

Jie Ming did not follow the two departing dragonmen. He hovered in mid-air, quietly watching the one who had returned to the village. A moment later, he gave a soft chuckle.

“Looks like… this guy isn’t a core member of the resistance either.”

Truly important figures would not personally squat in such a remote village to handle basic transactions. This was more like some kind of peripheral contact point. With that thought, Jie Ming was in no hurry.

“Then I’ll just wait a little longer. A few days won’t make any difference.”

As for those two dragonmen…

Jie Ming thought for a moment and did not report their matter.

“Judging from their emotional fluctuations, they really do just want to do one last job… Anyway, they aren’t important figures, so it doesn’t matter.”

Thus, he waited for half a month.

Jie Ming lurked like a ghost on the outskirts of the village. During those fifteen days, the dragonman behaved exactly like an ordinary villager.

Working, hunting, drinking, sleeping.

Until the sixteenth day, a new target finally appeared.

It was an unfamiliar dragonman.

He claimed to be a merchant, carried a bulging pack of goods, and rode a horned beast to the village entrance.

After entering, he purchased medicinal herbs and ores while selling seasonings and tools.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But when dusk fell, the dragonman responsible for contact quietly appeared again.

The two circled to a secluded corner for a brief conversation. Then the contact dragonman handed over all the collected energy crystals to the newcomer.

The new dragonman did not linger in the village after receiving the crystals. He left immediately, moving even more cautiously than the previous two.

The corners of Jie Ming’s mouth lifted slightly. “Finally making a move.”

He casually recorded the contact dragonman’s information—including physical features, bloodline patterns, activity range, and transaction records—and sent it out through his magic network terminal.

With this data, the android administrative system would soon send people to close the net.

As for this new dragonman…

Jie Ming’s gaze fell on the departing figure. Golden light lit up in his forehead’s vertical pupil as the Fate Subsystem operated. He carefully observed the fluctuations of fate.

“Looks correct. Just follow this guy and investigate.”

He then followed directly.

Over the next few days, the dragonman merchant successively visited several other villages hidden in the mountains.

The process was exactly the same.

Normal trade.

Secret contact.

Collecting energy crystals.

Jie Ming followed all the way, continuously mapping out new intelligence networks in his spiritual sea.

Finally, after completing one transaction, the dragonman merchant did not continue deeper into the mountains. Instead, he turned around and headed toward the outer edges of the Iron Spine Mountains.

A hint of interest appeared in Jie Ming’s eyes. “Oh? Heading back to a base?”

He followed unhurriedly from behind.

One in front and one behind, they left the dense forest.

The gray-black mountains were gradually left behind, and the damp, cold air slowly became drier.

Several days later, the dragonman finally walked out of the mountain range’s edge.

Ahead, a town built on the wilderness slowly appeared on the horizon.

It was a typical newly established colonial city. Its scale was not large, but it was filled with traces of forced transformation by wizard civilization.

Wide, straight streets, freshly paved stone roads, and construction debris that had not yet been fully cleared were visible everywhere.

In the center of the square stood a newly cast metal statue.

A dragonman miner holding a pickaxe and a dragonman blacksmith holding a hammer.

The plaque below was engraved with two words: Labor, Creation.

Jie Ming glanced at it, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.

Wizard Broadleaf’s aesthetic… could only be said to be very Noren Workshop indeed.

However, the town was not only “new.”

Along the edges of the streets, many traces of the old era still remained.

High towers that once belonged to dragonman nobles had their crests removed and were converted into public warehouses.

Boundary stones from old noble territories were piled up like garbage by the roadside.

Next to them were newly built public bathhouses and drainage channels. Several dragonman workers were carrying stone materials back and forth.

The corpse of the old system and the skeleton of the new order had been crudely stitched together in this city, forming a strange yet stable balance.

The dragonman merchant crossed the square and headed straight for the industrial zone, where several newly built small and medium-sized factories were located.

Since they were factories temporarily retrofitted according to local technology, the technical level was not high. The air was filled with the pungent smell of molten metal mixed with machine oil.

The merchant walked to the side door of one factory.

The guard merely glanced at him casually. Without even checking the pack, he let him through directly.

Jie Ming’s eyes flickered slightly.

An acquaintance.

And a frequent one at that.

He silently passed through the factory wall and entered the workshop interior.

The place was filled with constant rumbling. Several basic stamping machines that had been temporarily retrofitted were operating, pressing hot metal into various standard parts. Through his spiritual power, Jie Ming saw the dragonman merchant circle around the workshop via the rear corridor, enter a narrow hallway at the back, and finally push open an inconspicuous reception room.

Inside, a slightly plump dragonman was sitting behind a desk reviewing reports.

Hearing the door open, he didn’t even raise his head.

“Brought them?”

“Brought them.”

The merchant placed the pack on the desk and opened it, revealing neatly arranged energy crystals.

The plump dragonman picked up one piece, held it up to the detection rune on the wall, and the rune emitted a faint blue glow.

Energy intensity passed.

He then took out a wooden box from the drawer and handed it over.

After the dragonman merchant confirmed the number of potions, he left immediately.

Jie Ming did not follow him out.

His gaze landed on the plump supervisor.

His thoughts turned rapidly, and he soon revealed an understanding expression.

Indeed, it was only normal for the factories to have their middlemen.

Energy crystals were strictly controlled strategic resources, and bloodline evolution potions also required professional equipment to produce.

The resistance army’s mountain strongholds could not possibly possess a complete industrial system.

But factories could.

They had equipment, logistics, heavy legitimate cargo flow, and could procure raw materials under the guise of legitimate enterprises.

Most crucially… administrative androids did not accept bribes.

They only checked account logic.

As long as the data matched and the procurement was legal, the androids would not concern themselves with anything else.

For factory managers, slightly increasing some negligible “loss” and purifying the energy crystals they collected from outside were effortless tasks.

Factories were naturally the perfect cover.

Jie Ming stood quietly in the corner of the reception room like a ghost.

He knew he was getting closer and closer to the true core.

This plump supervisor was definitely not the leader of the resistance army.

But he was undoubtedly an important node in the logistics network.

Continuing to dig down this line would most likely lead directly to the resistance army’s real core stronghold.

However, Jie Ming did not act immediately.

The risk of soul searching was too great.

Although dragonman civilization was not a high-tier civilization, their heritage did include some soul protection secret techniques.

Moreover, the resistance army had already come into contact with the Reflection Dimension… who knew what kind of messy mental restrictions might be planted in these core members’ minds. If an alarm was triggered, the entire lead would be cut off.

Therefore… it was best to keep waiting.

Fate had already marked the target for him, and patience was the one thing he lacked the least.