Star City Western Supply Zone.
Command Center.
Feng Qi took the tea that Zhang Daowen personally brewed, sipped it, and placed the cup on the tea table in front of him. His gaze swept across the room.
This was a room of over 300 square meters.
On the left side of the room, the walls were adorned with various certificates and honor medals, among which the "Human Outstanding Contribution Medal" stood out prominently.
The wall full of honors testified to Zhang Daowen's growth and contributions during the years Feng Qi had been away.
On the right side of the room was a large transparent glass cabinet that spanned the entire wall. It was divided into smaller sections of different sizes.
Inside the sections, it seemed that Zhang Daowen's trophies from these years were displayed.
There were broken weapons, various spirit plants, and trinkets or pendants carried by Domain creatures.
In the center of the room was a round table, upon which lay a hand-drawn map. The left half of the map was still blank, with several flags inserted in various locations.
Each flag represented a Domain Combat Squad currently on a mission.
Among the flags, those with only text labels and no geographical features represented squads sent to explore Domain Fields. The intelligence they gathered from their explorations would eventually fill in the blank areas on the map.
Below the round table, there was a stack of rolled-up maps, which obviously represented areas that had already been completely explored.
The sofa Feng Qi was sitting on faced Zhang Daowen's desk.
The desk was piled high with files and blueprints. On the left side of the desk was a computer monitor, with the Crimson Research Institute's logo printed on the back, clearly from the tech department of the institute.
At the edge of the office center was a smaller version of the statue—Feng Qi's figure, holding a book in the left hand and a sword in the right.
"Uncle Qi, has your God Ascension trial finally ended?"
Zhang Daowen asked, curiosity in his voice as he sat down on the opposite side of the sofa.
"Mm, it's over. Time is limited, and the final battle is drawing near," Feng Qi replied.
"Do you have confidence in defeating Jian Ji?" Zhang Daowen asked.
"I'm not sure. I've never fought him before, so my judgment of his strength is based only on Mu Qing's reports. If Mu Qing and Mu Yan join me, I'm confident I can kill him."
"Do you need me to join you?" Zhang Daowen asked, his eyes glinting.
"You?" Feng Qi smiled and shook his head, "Forget it. I've calculated the time—you should be about to enter Star City's Military Department, right? Focus on that. Your growth has just begun. It's not worth risking your life in Winter City."
Faced with Feng Qi's teasing, Zhang Daowen, who usually had an imposing presence on the frontlines, couldn't help but scratch his head. He then continued, "Uncle Qi, tell me about your experiences these years. Are there a lot of powerful races out there? Have you been to the central region of the human world?"
"Don't ask. That's the one thing I dread right now. If I start telling you about my journey, when I get back to Star City, I'll have to repeat it over and over again. Old Mist will ask, and I'll have to explain again. There's been so much over the years, so many key events. I think when we get back to Star City, I'll just record a video and tell you all about it in detail. That way, I won't have to repeat myself."
Zhang Daowen nodded in regret after hearing Feng Qi's response.
Just then, Xiao You, who had been curiously looking around the room, suddenly jumped up and put her hands on her hips.
"Want me to tell you? I know everything that happened after Boss met me. I can talk non-stop for ten days and nights!"
Before Xiao You could proudly puff up her chest, Lei Ting couldn't resist speaking up to put her down.
"You? You'd talk for half an hour without sleeping, and I'd lose."
Zhang Daowen's gaze turned to Xiao You and the others.
Although he already knew they were Domain creatures, he didn't feel any wariness towards them.
It was because they were with Feng Qi and had his approval.
Whether they were trustworthy or not had already been answered by Feng Qi's actions. He didn't need to remind Feng Qi to be cautious.
In terms of knowledge and experience, Zhang Daowen knew he was far behind Feng Qi.
But when Xiao You said she was the wild child Feng Qi had fathered outside, Zhang Daowen had been taken aback.
Thankfully, Feng Qi quickly clarified.
Zhang Daowen glanced at the tea cup in Feng Qi's hand, stood up, took the teapot from the table, filled Feng Qi's cup, and sat back down. He continued with curiosity:
"Uncle Qi, I won't ask about your specific experiences, but when you record that video, don't forget to send me a copy. I just have one question—since you've reached the central region of the human world, what's it like there?"
"Based on your experience, how do you think the central region will be?" Feng Qi asked, sipping his tea and smiling.
Zhang Daowen paused for a moment, then spoke:
"From a geographical perspective, the central region doesn't have the strategic depth of the eastern region. In the early days of the great catastrophe, it would definitely be surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the situation would be dire. It could be said that there's nowhere to retreat. In such harsh conditions, the central region wouldn't even be able to establish a stable environment for research and development, so the chances of creating a cultivation growth system would be slim. Most likely, the human civilization in the central region has perished hundreds of years ago."
Zhang Daowen paused for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face.
"However... there are always exceptions. My judgment is based on the information available at the time. The early days of the Domain creatures' invasion may bring unexpected events and opportunities. Since you asked me to guess, I can pretty much guarantee that human civilization still exists in the central region, and that you've already had contact with the humans there."
"Based on my understanding of you, if there were no human civilization in the central region, you would simply shake your head and sigh, not leave it for me to guess," Zhang Daowen said.
"Good boy, not bad." After hearing Zhang Daowen's analysis, Feng Qi nodded in satisfaction and continued, "There is indeed human civilization in the central region, and they have established a new civilization system that coexists with plant elves. It is developing very prosperously, and the living environment there is even better than ours in the eastern region, including resource output and consumption."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Daowen showed a surprised expression.
Although he had guessed that there was still human civilization in the central region, he never expected that the civilization there would be more prosperous than that in the eastern region. This seemed truly unbelievable to him.
"Uncle Qi, please tell me more about what it means to have a civilization coexisting with elves. Can we learn from it?" Zhang Daowen asked.
Feng Qi immediately shook his head, and with a wave of his hand, the projection of a Life Elf appeared in the palm of his right hand. "This is an elf."
"Such a strong life energy fluctuation."
"Indeed, it can enhance the physical qualities and other aspects of its host. However, once the strength of the elf exceeds the limit of the body it inhabits, the elf will assimilate the body into itself. This is the biggest challenge facing the human civilization in the central region. If this problem is not solved, the humans there will eventually walk down a path of no return..." Feng Qi explained.
Zhang Daowen listened intently as Feng Qi briefly introduced his experiences in Elf City and his understanding of elves.
His eyes couldn't hide his astonishment. It was like opening the door to a new world. Even after years of fighting on the frontlines, he had never seen such a unique symbiotic civilization growth system.
"I see now. It seems we will never be able to learn the elf cultivation system mastered by the humans in the central region. How could we trust the future to someone else?" Zhang Daowen sighed.
After a brief silence, Zhang Daowen looked up at Feng Qi: "Uncle Qi, what do you think? Right now, the Elf King is of great significance to the humans in the central region. Killing it would completely destroy their civilization, but if we don't kill it, we can't escape the Elf King's influence on human civilization. It would eventually become a subordinate force and could even be abandoned."
"This issue will have to wait until I return to Star City," Feng Qi replied. "My judgment needs to be based on the Elf King's future actions. Right now, I'm quite conflicted. Part of me wants to ally with the Elf King, but I'm also worried that the Elf King might be continuously using humanity."
Zhang Daowen nodded hesitantly, clearly feeling the same confusion as Feng Qi.
The human civilization in the central region had been thoroughly bound to the elf civilization.
Trying to solve this issue was like a difficult heart surgery.
If the heart were removed, the body would die due to the lack of a power source.
But if the heart, which had independent thoughts, were not removed, it could stop the heartbeat at any time and cause the body's death.
Whichever choice was made, it could lead to irreversible consequences.
The only thing they could do for now was to maintain this symbiotic relationship, as it seemed to bring no harm and only benefits. This special heart provided the body with stronger vitality.
After some more casual conversation about the central region, Feng Qi asked about the development of Star City's Western Supply Zone.
As the highest-ranking official of the Western Supply Zone and a witness to its development, there was clearly no one who understood it better than Zhang Daowen.
In response to Feng Qi's inquiry, Zhang Daowen began to explain the progress of the Western Supply Zone over the years.
From Zhang Daowen's introduction, Feng Qi learned that the Western Supply Zone now had three battlefronts, located in the west, north, and south of the zone.
This meant that the entire frontline supply zone expanded westward in a fan-shaped manner.
The benefit of this expansion method was that the frequency of advancement was not as high.
For example, if they expanded only westward, it would form a domain channel. However, if they didn't clear the domain fields in the north and south, the battlefront would lengthen and resemble a straight line, which could easily be severed by the sudden expansion of domain fields from the north and south, cutting off Star City's connection.
This would result in serious consequences, one of which would be that Star City's supply couldn't reach the frontline supply zone in a short period of time.
This strategy of advancing steadily to the west had a stable pace, while the resources brought back from the newly opened domain fields had not decreased.
The three battlefronts were ideal for the small-scale combat strategies of domain combat squads.
At present, the Western Supply Zone occupied 361 square kilometers, with 13,800 combat squads registered. Over 20,000 combat squads were stationed there, with most of them being small teams of around 20 members.
The city's functional buildings included combat squad offices (task hall), equipment stores, equipment recovery stores, universal rental shops, communication towers, lookout towers, medical centers, and more.
What surprised Feng Qi the most was that the frontline supply zone had actually planned and was in the process of constructing a stable-type spatial transmission array.
The idea of building a stable-type spatial transmission array in the Western Supply Zone had occurred to him during his previous timeline.
However, he had ultimately abandoned this idea.
After all, constructing a stable-type spatial transmission array required vast resources.
It wasn't a one-time deal; maintaining it over time would require continuous resource expenditure.
Most importantly, once activated, a stable-type spatial transmission array couldn't be turned off.
Turning off the stable spatial transmission array would cause the carefully carved spatial runes to completely shatter, requiring them to be recast, which would waste even more resources.
Therefore, the stable-type spatial transmission array was like a gold-devouring beast.
Feng Qi had initially believed that establishing a spatial link between Star City and the Mist Tribe was sufficient. There was no need to set up another costly spatial transmission array to connect to the Western Supply Zone; instead, a transportation track for goods would suffice.
After all, the Western Supply Zone was not far from Star City, and a simple track would be enough to meet the supply and resource return needs.
In response to his inquiry, Zhang Daowen provided an explanation.
The decision to construct a stable-type spatial transmission array in the supply zone was prompted by an unexpected disaster.
The timeline shifted back 12 years.
The "Wuxiang Domain Field" to the north of the Western Supply Zone suddenly expanded for unknown reasons. The expansion was so rapid that the supply zone had no time to react, and within a short period, it had completely surrounded the Western Supply Zone.
Once the connection was severed, the resources from the Western Supply Zone could not be sent out, and supplies from Star City could not be sent in.
The situation was extremely urgent.
If the stored resources were depleted, the soldiers in the Western Supply Zone would have no escape.
Fortunately, the sudden expansion of the Wuxiang Domain Field mysteriously contracted after three days, and it did not cause substantial harm to the Star City Supply Zone.
However, this crisis made the higher-ups in Star City realize something important.
There were still too few protective measures for the frontline supply zones, and the question of how to handle a similar situation in the future became a key point of discussion among the high-ranking officials.
With the subsequent expansions of the supply lines, the distance continued to grow.
Such a crisis, if it were to occur in the future, would be even more terrifying.
After discussing for several days, they realized that the only solution to the crisis was to build a stable-type spatial transmission array.
Although a stable spatial transmission array spanning across domain fields required more resources, in the face of unexpected situations, it would be the best guarantee for the frontline supply zone.
It would not only enable rapid supply replenishment but also allow Star City's military department to support the frontline with reinforcements through the transmission array.
As for the issue of potential resource waste caused by building a stable-type spatial transmission array, this was a problem the high-ranking officials in Star City were already addressing.
The solution to the energy consumption problem required advancements in spatial technology.
This was also one of the reasons why Star City had invested significant manpower and resources in developing spatial technologies over the years.
Speaking of spatial technology, Feng Qi suddenly thought of the Silver Moon Clan.
The Silver Moon Clan's engineering and even spatial technologies were extremely advanced.
During his time in the previous sacrifice line, he had fought with Yin Ling, who had a terrifying spatial teleportation ability. If he hadn't also mastered this ability, he might not have been able to defeat Yin Ling.
Now, the Silver Moon Clan seemed more and more valuable in his eyes.
Their engineering technology could improve Star City's resource utilization efficiency, enhance the framework for resource supply, and even speed up the construction of stable-type spatial transmission arrays.
At present, the construction of a stable-type spatial transmission array was a monumental project for Star City.
Without at least ten years of investment, a stable-type spatial transmission array could not be completed.
The Silver Moon Clan could precisely solve this problem.
They were even proficient in the more complex ultra-large interworld transmission arrays.
Most importantly, the ultimate weapon, which was left behind on the Silver Snake Empire's island, could only be activated and used by the Silver Moon Clan.
Considering all of this, forming an alliance with the Silver Moon Clan could bring many benefits to Star City.
The only issue that couldn't be resolved was how to make the Silver Moon Clan controllable or how to make them trustworthy.
Especially with the ultimate weapon, how should they handle this?
The ultimate weapon was incredibly powerful, but without the Silver Snake bloodline, it could not be activated and was essentially a useless piece of scrap metal.
If handed over to the Silver Moon Clan, they would gain immense power and become uncontrollable, possibly threatening the development of human civilization.
The ultimate weapon was a dilemma—use it or not.
It would only become a crucial bargaining chip in securing a stable relationship with the Silver Moon Clan if they were entirely trustworthy.
Handling the relationship with the Silver Moon Clan was a troublesome issue.
Feng Qi felt that while there were aspects where the Silver Moon Clan could be useful, there were concerns about the situation potentially spiraling out of control.
But this was a matter Feng Qi chose not to dwell on.
This sacrifice line did not require him to think too much about such issues.
His primary goal was to defeat Jian Ji.
After all, in this sacrifice line, the Silver Moon Clan had already become the starting resource for both Star City's and the Mist Tribe's development.
The lingering light of the Silver Snake Empire had completely sunk in this timeline.
After chatting casually with Zhang Daowen for quite some time, Feng Qi had a preliminary understanding of the situation in Star City and the Western Supply Zone.
"Qi-ge, I'll escort you back to Star City next," Zhang Daowen offered.
"There's no need for an escort. I'm not fragile enough to need your protection. Besides, the front line still needs you in command. Just arrange a car to take me back to Star City," Feng Qi refused.
Despite Feng Qi's refusal, Zhang Daowen insisted a few times before finally conceding.
He then walked over to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
As Feng Qi walked out of the Brigade Office's hall with Zhang Daowen, a maglev car was already waiting outside.
After bidding Zhang Daowen farewell, Feng Qi and Xiao You boarded the maglev car.
Next, he would return to Star City, to the home he had longed for throughout his long journey of cultivation.
As the maglev car started moving, Zhang Daowen watched them leave.
The car gradually picked up speed, and the scenes outside passed by in a blur.
An hour later, the maglev vehicle exited the Western Supply Zone and headed directly toward Star City.
The road to Star City was divided into two main routes: one was used for transportation, and along it, many trucks filled with goods could be seen making frequent trips between Star City and the Western Supply Zone.
The other was the main driving route, used by soldiers and battle squads traveling back and forth.
There was also a road under construction.
This was the future railway line for transporting supplies more efficiently, bringing back resources gained from domain fields.
However, this project was progressing slowly.
The stable-type spatial transmission array project had already started, and once the construction of the stable-type spatial transmission array was completed, these three main roads would mostly be abandoned.
A constantly running stable-type spatial transmission array would be a waste if not used, so there would no longer be a need to transport goods with a fleet.
At that point, the connection between Star City and the Western Supply Zone would become much tighter.
The maglev car traveled for half the day, and Feng Qi saw the familiar city skyline.
The western gate of Star City, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, was adorned with a faint golden hue. The flag of dawn fluttered in the wind on top of the city wall, a symbol of the hard work that Feng Qi and his companions had poured into it.
Soon, he would return to his long-lost homeland, and Feng Qi's heart surged with excitement.
It felt like a traveler returning home, full of anticipation.
Just then, a large number of figures suddenly appeared from inside the western gate, lining up outside and gazing at the vehicle where Feng Qi was.
Seeing this, Feng Qi couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, muttering, "This kid, he must've sent a notice to Star City in advance."
At the same time, at the gate of the city, the senior officials of Star City stood neatly in a row, their gazes fixed on the distance, quietly awaiting the legendary return.
They knew well that, for Feng Qi, this formal welcome was entirely unnecessary.
In fact, it might even make him feel that it was a bit too formal.
But for them, the return of this legend held great significance.
Feng Qi might not care about face, but they had to give him the highest level of reception.
This was their respect for this pioneer, as well as their highest tribute to this legendary figure.
When the black maglev car stopped at the city gate, a figure both familiar and unfamiliar stepped out of the vehicle.
Feng Qi's gaze swept over the crowd present, but he didn't speak, as if pondering something.
The senior officials of Star City immediately held their breath, awaiting Feng Qi's words.
At that moment, standing in front of the high-ranking officials of Star City, Feng Qi felt a bit awkward.
He realized that the leadership of Star City had changed, and none of the people standing there were familiar to him.
By the time he had left Star City, most of those present probably hadn't even been born.
"It looks like your position in your group is quite high," Lei Ting couldn't help but look up at Feng Qi and joke.
Feng Qi didn't respond to the comment, just as he was about to speak, Xiao You, with his social butterfly personality, jumped forward and stood with his hands on his hips, speaking on Feng Qi's behalf:
"Everyone, I'm back! Applause for the welcome!"
With that, Xiao You led the applause.
Hearing Xiao You's shout, the senior officials of Star City fell into brief silence before decisively following Xiao You's suggestion and began clapping, their eyes filled with admiration as they looked at Feng Qi.
They had grown up hearing the stories of Feng Qi.
Now, the legendary figure from the books, the pioneer of Star City, the great man they had admired in their youth...
He was back.