Amelia looked at the five miracles in her hands with a sudden good mood. Seeing there is nothing else she settled the matter of battle pets with the twins and left the matter of introducing it to the soldiers to them as she left. Amelia contacted two high kevel pets, the levels differ in that they can change into other forms. How many forms will depend of the owners selection.
She made a large stock purchase with them. This is really a good winter. She was worried and having less soldiers but now the soldiers can each contact a robot companion.
The first pet is a large hound, it has sharp claws, a tail that can be retracted turn its entire body can be covered in sharp thorns that can be shot out to stab the enemy. This is just one of its many attacking functions but the ones Amelia likes the most.P
Amelia went to the meeting hall the following week and saw the originally 30 000 and above number of soldiers have reduced to a pitiful 12 000. She sat down and looked at her army soldiers.
"So, why did you stay?" The soldiers became stunned. The nine city lords have been recruiting inner base soldiers like crazy in the last couple of months as a results, many of them have left to live in the new morden homes outside so much so that the inner base is beginning to seem deserted.
"I didn't have a spirit root initially, it was given to me by leader. In fact, most of us are the water ability users and the ones without a spirit root in the beginning. Leader is our benefactor, we would be working in the fields or the factories without the current status if not for your favor." One soldier said with sincerity that moved people who are listening.
"I was a water power initially and my woman left me for a thunder power user. When the leader gave us the power to get strong, it didn't just save my life but you gave me my dignity as a man back. I will be grateful forever in my heart."
Amelia looked at these people stunned by their words. "There seems to be a misunderstanding here. If you join the outer city districts you are not betraying me or abandoning your initial agreement."
The room became quiet. The past few months the soldiers have been treating each other like they have jumped from one ship to the next which has created a misunderstanding.
"Leader, can you explain? My husband left and this led to our separation as husband and wife." A beautiful woman said with a pained smile.
Amelia face palmed. "You can join the outer districts without feeling like you are deserting. Didn't the nine city lords should have explained this clearly to you?"
"They recruited us but it wasn't clear what is going on." One person said.
"Except for the new 15 chairs, everyone is allowed to join any other district. This place and its entirety belongs to me. They are called the city lords now now right? They are still under my jurisdiction so don't hurt your brains thinking about it too much."
Seeing some of them wanting to leave, she dismissed them with a single wave. After the hall quieted down for a while she smiled at the remaining people.
"Alright, have you all decided on the leader to follow?" Amelia had given the 15 leaders a lot of resources but she had also instructed them to wait until everyone who will go over to the new districts has gone so that the remaining are those who are serious about being under their leadership.
"Leader, we are still deciding. The young leaders told us we have three more weeks before the transfers are finalized."
"I see, I called you here to ask you that if you have someone who wants to be a soldier you may let them enlist. Only if they are without the gene to awaken.
Currently the base is lacking in soldiers so I need a lot of people whose supernatural power will be chosen by me, under my inner base instead of working for the 15 young lords, these people will be the guardians of the base that report to my secretaries directly.
Unlike you lot, they will not have an option to join any other district as the guardians of the entire base they will be based in the inner base. In a few days, a notice will be on the board about this and people will come to enlist.
It's first come first serve so I am telling you now so as to let your families register early in the administration office. I will also choose shadow guards, plant ability users and lastly...poison. These positions will only be available through vigorous screening in the future so cherish this opportunity." She stood up and is about to leave.
"Leader, you said you will help those without the gene to be able to have super power?" The person had not heard nicely.
"Yes. This is the Jiangkang base's secret." She put her finger on her lips and made a shhh sound.
"Yes leader. We will keep it a secret."
Amelia laughed happily and left. Blake looked at her with scorching eyes. With such a thing, how powerful is the planet going to be? Even with all the futuristic technology that the Empire has at the disposal, the gene awakening syrup is at best 50% possibly and even then, it will never be so specific to say you will gain space power.
What kind of godly being is able to do such a thing? Blake has lost his calm for the first time in a long time he feels agitated, really agitated.
Amelia ignored him even though she can sense his chaotic state of mind. Amelia is worried about the glaring short coming of her base which is a shortage of soldiers. She needs to recruit as many soldiers as possible.
Luckily the upgraded version of mystic fruits will make people subconsciously loyal to her and she doesn't have to worry about being backstabbed. After sorting out the four types of spirit root fruits she had been keeping on the side over the past year she found them to be at least 20 000 made up of 5000 plant types, shadow type, space type and lastly the poison type.
These are the fruits she has been keeping aside with plans to raise an elite team of guardians for the base. It is time to make good on those plans. She didn't waste anytime diving into work.
"Amelia."
Blake called out her name with his deep voice. Amelia had been sorting out the fruits for the past several days and only went to sleep at night. He didn't even see her eat food.
Amelia looked at him, she has been focused these few days sorting the fruits into 300 large boxes.
"Blake, did you find something to do in the base these days?" Amelia asked kindly while she looked at his arms with shining eyes.
Blake is wearing a vest his arms are out showing his masculinity and those protruding veins.... It is winter outside but the room has floor heating so the two powerful people are not cold at all.
"You haven't taken a break for so long. Are not afraid you will drop on the ground in exhaustion?" He is obviously concerned for her well being. Touched, Amelia smiled at him in appreciation.
"Thank you for your care, but I want to finish this so they can familiarize themselves with the power before I train them. You saw it yourself, we need soldiers."
"I understand that, but you shouldn't overdo it in case you hurt yourself." Blake tried to make his voice gentle. The reason he is worried the most is because he doesn't know she has something called the fasting pill that allows her to function without taking breaks for eating or going to the toilet.
"Alright, I'll rest." Helpless against that handsome stern expression, Amelia felt like for the first time in centuries someone showed concern for her. Still with a otherworldly beauty at that. She is suddenly in a good mood. So she decided to brew spirit tea for the both of them.
"Did you make friends in the base?" She asked him after closing the boxes and taking them back into her space.
"I went to the hotel to order food for a few days. The food is very tasty but when I decided to order from the other food places is was completely different. Why is that?" He doesn't want to come out and say that he is not familiar with eating solid food.
"The food in the hotel and in my place is spirit food. It has world energies which enhances its natural attributes making it more nutritious, it even has the ability to improve your strength when cooked properly."
"Is that why the food I eat in here is very useful for my progress in cultivation but the food outside is just delicious?" Je asked while watching her smooth movements as she brews tea.
"It's not completely useless, it's just that you are very powerful so the impact is not obvious. For other people it is very useful." Amelia told him.
Blake nodded. He is a bit regretful about not being able to eat her food but he will not force her to just cook for him for no reason. Amelia doesn't even cook for herself.
"I didn't make any friends. But I am not a high schooler. Does an old man like me still needs friends?" He raised one of his sharp eyebrows.
"I just didn't want you to be lonely."
"I enjoy the silence."
"Enjoy it while it lasts. There's simply too much to do. As my bodyguard, you must be with me at all times." Amelia said drinking tea. She grew tea leaves inside her space after she saw that old Mo has sneakily gone to grow tea leaves in the spirit glasshouse.
Blake drank the tea she had prepared for him and his cold eyes became softer. This tea is definitely useful for his state of mind. It makes him calm down and his stiff shoulders relaxed. The body becomes warm and comfortable.
"You're a treasure miss Amelia. This tea alone is worth a lot of respect. Do you want to become my family member? I could adopt you. You can pay your respect to me with this tea everyday."
"Just for this? The tea leaves can be bought in my shop downstairs and I can teach you how to prepare it with my method so you can preserve the spirit energy in the tea during the brewing process." Amelia became speechless. Adoption?
Blake opened his eyes and looked at her deeply. Does this woman not know the value of this knowledge, the Empire would pay large sum of money for such an effective cup of tea, especially those rich old people who are always showing how refined they are.
In the Empire, food is not popular and many people are clueless on how to preserve its magical properties.
There are spirit plants but people eat them directly so the spirit energy is not wasted during the cooking process. But if someone can make it like this wouldn't they make a fortune? Thinking of her food, Blake really can't imagine how rich she would be if she decided to sell her food outside.
"Are you that unwilling to be my daughter?"
"I can be your wife, what kind of daughter finds her adoptive father attractive? Wouldn't I be laughed at if someone found out?" Amelia asked in confusion. Her words are clear without any shyness at all.
Blake coughed hearing her blatant response. He really choked on the tea.
He is dumbfounded. She was a hooligan just now, but the moment she closed her mouth she seemed like a beautiful fairy. If someone said she was to one who spoke those words a moment ago, no one would believe it.
Too deceptive. Her movements when she was making tea a while ago were very gentle and skilled. Watching it made people feel refreshed, it is obvious she is a gentle kind woman with virtues.
Unexpectedly, the moment she opens her mouth, she will leave you speechless. But...
Blake can not find anything wrong with her statement. If a man adopts a young lady and later finds out she thinks of him as a man she can marry, it would be scandalous indeed.
Thinking she just said he is attractive, Blake didn't have time to be shy as she continues drinking her tea like she didn't say those words a moment ago. He even began to doubt whether he heard her wrongly.
"I wonder how long this winter will last for." Amelia quickly changed the subject.
"Are you wishing for summer?" Blake cooperated with her.
"No, the longer it is the longer I have to complete my plans." Amelia said smiling.
"What plans?"
"Increase my army, increase my territory, increase my wealth, improve my strength. Undermine my sister's plans." Amelia counted from the top of her head.
"Those are a lot. Why undermine her plans?"
"She has tried to kill me three times now. Wouldn't it be easier for her to kill me off if her plans are successful? Besides, it fun messing with her." Amelia said in response.
"Is that the woman who cut off your arm?" He aske with interest.
"You saw that, yeah she is the one."
That day he saw her crush someone's arm bit by bit and the other party is so impressive she didn't even scream in agony. These sisters are both powerful but they don't seem to get along much.
They spent time like this, drinking tea and answering questions from each other until it was time for Amelia to meet the 15 lords.
They watched as she entered the conference room followed by the large security guard she is usually walking with. "How is it? Are you used to it yet?" She smiled kindly.
"Leader, we haven't seen you for a while and you have become even more beautiful."
"Yeah, that skin tone..."
"Have you all seperated your tasks?" Amelia cut through their crap with a single sentence.
The meeting continues, the 15 people formed three teams. They are to use the resources given by Amelia to recruit and train at least 3000 people each. On the side they are responsible for expanding the territory of the base. The task is to clean the territory that will be covered by the barrier of all the barrier later.
The first team is responsible for the construction of the educational structures, the next will build roads and work with the previous nine brats to contruct the overall city once the barrier is put in place.
The last team is responsible for drainage and electricity supply. They are not expected to build these themselves but getting people to build it and gathering supplies for the construction is their responsibility.
Amelia had prepared a blueprint for the large scale city. The current ten districts will be only one part of the entire capital region. Of course she will start by erecting the barrier. The five balls are still being recharged and once they are put in place, only by using certain keys can any one come in and out.
Small and large gates will be guarded to control what comes inside the city. This is because the beasts will become disaster level threats as time goes on. The upgrad of the world means upgrade to all the living species in the world including the animals.
When the meeting ended, several people left to recruit soldiers first and then train them while they put together a team of builders as well as resources.
The urgent thing is to recruit soldiers and have them ready for combat because they need to go and clear the places that will be with in the barrier as soon as possible before winter is over.
The barrier balls are currently being recharged. The process of charging them is to allow them to absorb energy from the energy stones. Amelia found a few locations of energy stone mines in the territory of the Qin family and without manners decided to take them for herself.
"Where are we?" Blake looked around seeing the two of them had appeared deep within a forests. Extending his senses to a small distance, he can see many dangerous animals around the forest.
"As your bodyguard I must inform you there are several beasts of immense power in this forest." Blake said to Amelia who seems distracted.
"That is why I made you wear the talisman for stealth. Try not to be discovered because it will be troublesome to hide once you have been seen with the naked eye." Amelia warned and then disappeared into the ground. Blake is stunned seeing her morph into the ground like that.
She went to check on the charging balls underground in the middle of an energy stone mine. If the would be king found out his most valuable resource is being stolen like this would he puke out blood? Hehe.
The 5 balls will turn into flat discs with patterns when they are fully charged. The patterns are the compressed energy slips that can store tremendous amounts of energy. The man with the surname Zhu is a genius among men.
It has been a little over a week but the mine is already half emptied. The good thing about this way of stealing is that in the future the emptied out energy mine has a chance of appearing again.
Amelia got out and came across a scene of Blake surrounded by a pack of wolves. They are very powerful as a pack but how can they be more powerful than Blake? He is about to release his mental power to crush them to death when Amelia stopped him.
She handed him an inhibitor bracelet to put on. "You must be jocking. Face a pack of wolves without any of my supernatural powers? Are you trying to kill me?"
"This is for your own good. Do you remember when I said you are special?" Amelia asked him ignoring the sound of growling all around them.
"What does that have to do with you making me fight like a savage." Blake sounded displeased.
"Do you trust me?" Amelia suddenly asked him. She saw him pursed his lips but he nodded.
"I do."
"Then listen to me and do what you were born to do." The words sounded but Blake doesn't understand.
"What are you talking about what I was born to do?"
"Slaughter. You are a born killer Blake. Why do you think you were born with better mental power than other people?"
"Because of my family bloodline. It happens in my family every century."
"You are wrong Blake, it is not in your blood, it is in your heart. You have the heart of slaughter. The heart is willful and wants to kill wantonly but a strong mind can restrain it to only kill when necessary and only target the enemy." Amelia explained calmly.
"Heart of slaughter sounds sinister and evil Amelia, I don't want to be evil." For the first time he looked at her with a deep vulnerability that any other person would have missed if they didn't look closely.
"Evil is often used to describe those who are powerful. This is ultimately your choice but heart of slaughter doesn't make you murderous out of the blue, it activates when you need it. Even then, it might be hard to come out of that murderous state. That is why I am here." She looked at him. The wolves are getting impatient.
"A lot of people will die if you fail to restrain me Amelia, this is serious. I have seen what can happen." He looked at her.
"People die every day. The question is are you willing to be one of them? Because if you don't awaken your heart, it will turn all that aura into a disease that will kill you no matter how powerful you get in the future. Don't worry, I'm here."
Blake took the army knife and attacked the first wolf while avoiding a sharp claw aiming for his stomach. Just like that, the first wolf died with a stab wound on it's throat.
Amelia floated to a tree and watched the fight. Blake is quick, his reflexes are superior to the wolves if not for their numbers and the fact that they also have super power he would have killed them all by now.
Amelia frowned seeing no movement from his heart. "Blake is not desperate enough" She took out a yellow pill from her stash that she had made for when she finally builds her foundation.
"Blake, take this pill. I'll go get something stronger than these guys." She threw the pill over.
Blake took the pill and continued fighting. A few more minutes and 8 level 6 to 7 wolves are dead at his feet. The Alpha howled and the wolves scattered a moment later. Just as they left, Blake felt his body get slower and less powerful. Its as if his power from all those years have been sucked out, he is completely normal. Startled, he looked for Amelia but she is no where to be found.
He huffed and just as he is about to rest he heard two deep growls then two tigers attacked him at the same time. He would have been able to handle them 5 minutes ago but now...he held the blade in his hand firmly and evaded.
The fight is fierce and bloody three minutes passed but he is already covered in wounds. He knows that he has spent too much time relying on his powerful shadow powers, superior body strength and his mental power to end his fights quickly and efficiently in the past.
But he has been stripped of his power at the moment. "Amelia!" He shouted but nothing, where could she had gone?"
A tiger sent a fire ball towards his head, but because of his height it landed on his chest. It burned through his combat top like it was nothing. Blake groaned in pain. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air.
Anger. Raw anger burst out from his chest and for a moment he felt suffocated by it. He roared and sent a powerful slash on the tiger's snout wanting to tare apart this mouth that released a fireball towards him a moment ago.
The tiger is faster than him it avoided the slash making it land on the ground seperating the soil which is unusual because the blade is not a long blade. Blake didn't see this, all he sees is his opponent.
He took a deep breath and a ruthless aura surrounded his body. Opening his eyes again, the purple hue turned shinier to the point it leaked to the sides. His heart slowed down and all the vital points of his enemies became visible to him, as if they are beckoning him to stabb them with his blade.
His body became excited at the feeling of being unrestrained. He slashed, stabbed evaded. Evey attack from the tigers is evaded in the last moment only if it is a fatal attack. In less than 30 minutes he is standing and beneath his feet, two dead tigers lay quietly.
Not having an enemy anymore, he roared like a beast, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any living being. A red aura surrounded his entire body making him look like a demon with two purple lights leaking to the left and right sides of his face.
The red aura got deeper and more bloody. A storm of heaven and earth energy erupted all around him. His heart beat accelerated as it if wants to burst out of his chest. A series of knowledge entered his head and he stood there in a daze.
Amelia felt a five powerful auras headed in their direction and became anxious. Knowing there is no other way she took out her saber. She has never used her saber since coming into this world but she is weak and two of the five seniors approaching are at late stage foundation.
She can not afford to be careless. Amelia used her space power and locked a few kilometers with space lock and then floated towards the five people with her saber. She didn't forget to release two of the battle pets she contracted a while ago.
This could be a fight to the death and she will not let Blake down till the last moment.
....