The King of Black Fog

The results were quite fruitful; the wages of the female workers in the insole factory, textile factory, and other industries increased from two dimes a day to three dimes.

That's just one dime more per day, which adds up to three dollars a month!

Protesting is no joke, nor is it something you can just decide to do on a whim; once you protest, you can't work, and without work, there's no money. Without money, how can one live?

At this time, Li Qianxia's donations played a role, ensuring the livelihood of the protesting female workers, and the excess could even be used for printing slogans and the like.

Of course, not all protests would yield good results.

There were bosses who halfway through would directly dismiss all the protesting female workers and recruit another batch.

Just when the protesting female workers began to regret their decision—having a job is better than having none—Li Qianxia and Lin Yin, in a fit of anger, went around advocating solidarity and the domino effect of mutual interest, and ultimately launched a sizable collective strike.

The situation became deadlocked.

The bosses would rather shut down operations than raise wages; on Li Qianxia's side, she went around raising funds, declaring that the strike would not stop for a single day until the wages were raised.

"Don't just focus on these matters," Yang Qinglan said while signing her name under Li Changzhou's, and continued, "I asked you to keep an eye on the Fire God Martial Arts Hall. Any news?"

"Fewer people in navy uniforms coming in and out." Li Qianxia teased the birds in the corridor's cage.

The birds of wealthy families had servants to add water, feed, and clean the cages regularly.

"It seems like it's about to start," Yang Qinglan said, finishing her writing and handing the ledger back to Li Qianxia.

"It's not about to start; it has already begun," Chun Emperor said gracefully as she walked in.

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan looked at her while Li Qianxia watched her, instructing Little Radish to "draw" her own name in the ledger.

"Get ready, it's going to be today," Chun Emperor declared.

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan exchanged glances over the vibrant lotus flowers.

"Qian Xia, I'm done," Little Radish said, finishing her name like it was a drawing.

Li Qianxia took the ledger, pursed her lips as she flipped through a couple of pages, then slowly closed it; this donation was too late to collect and even more so to distribute.

◇

There was nothing much to pack, nor anything to yearn for, as this era was never theirs.

After a brief explanation, Li Changzhou, Yang Qinglan, Li Qianxia, Little Radish, and Chun Emperor sat on the back of a butterfly and headed directly to the dock.

"What about your subordinates?" Yang Qinglan asked Chun Emperor.

"You've killed almost all of them," Chun Emperor said resentfully, giving Li Changzhou a glare, "I didn't have the rest come over; they're not combatants, but more like technical players. It's a bit of a hassle for me if they die."

"The four of us versus you alone, do you think that's fair?" Yang Qinglan said.

"Learn the 'Divine Fire Map' first," Chun Emperor stated succinctly.

You can only exchange for it after learning it in the instance.

Yang Qinglan looked at Li Changzhou, knowing she wasn't suited for haggling.

"Add the 'Divine Fire Map' Combat Skill as well," Li Changzhou said.

"The handsome guy is finally speaking to me? But don't forget, we've sworn a blood oath; regardless of the number disparity between us, we must unite to kill the master of Fire God Hall," Chun Emperor replied.

"In principle, that's true, but Chun Emperor, your goal isn't merely the 'Divine Fire Map,' it's our combat strength," Li Changzhou said.

"How do I not know that?" Chun Emperor tilted her head, asking Li Changzhou with a smile as if she were being flirtatious in bed. You ask if she's comfortable, and she turns her face away to answer, unknowingly.

"With your character, your objective can only be the S-level Visualization. And since the instance has a player limit, bringing all your subordinates wouldn't compare to having me, not to mention all four of us. For the sake of future cooperation, how about a little more sincerity from both sides?" Li Changzhou proposed.

"Okay," Chun Emperor agreed without a second thought.

She watched Li Changzhou with a playful smile, appearing as though she would agree to any request that came from him.

This woman always gave that misconception. All her words and actions seemed to imply she harbored a fondness for you.

The butterflies flew slowly, and during the day, half-mimicry wasn't as safe as at night, so the Chun Emperor released a thin mist, wrapping it around the butterflies and the five people.

"Should we come up with a plan?" Li Qianxia tentatively asked.

The Chun Emperor had no such intention and said, "You should know all you need to by now, one month in. The battlefield changes in the blink of an eye, watch for the right moment and adapt accordingly."

"Alright," Li Qianxia nodded.

Li Changzhou's gaze turned toward the direction of the docks.

The owner of Fire God Hall, Zhu Xiongjie, 62, had undergone two potential developments with the "Divine Fire Map". Each punch and kick of his was like a meteor, powerful beyond measure.

The goal of killing the basket starfish was straightforward: The third potential development with the "Divine Fire Map" – body turning into Divine Fire – required the ingestion of icy herbal ingredients.

Either freeze to death or transform into Divine Fire, becoming a body of flames.

According to Chun Emperor's speculation, Although Zhu Xiongjie historically succeeded in killing the basket starfish, his breakthrough had failed. Otherwise, Commander Li would not have been assassinated.

"Then why don't we just wait for him to die before we snatch the 'Divine Fire Map'?" Li Qianxia had asked at the time.

"These ancient people value their Visualization Maps more than their own lives. When they teach their disciples, it's just a quick glance on the spot before taking it back. They'd even bind it to their backs when sleeping with a woman. Zhu Xiongjie is bound to keep it on him during his breakthrough. Whether he freezes into ice or fails and is incinerated, the 'Visualization Map' will be destroyed," Chun Emperor had explained.

"Why not just give it to a disciple or hide it?"

"What if a disciple runs off with the map? Or if someone finds where it's hidden? Visualization Maps aren't like martial arts manuals that you can just memorize. Each time you reach a new level of potential, you need to visualize the map anew to gain further insight into the Visualization Method."

Li Changzhou recalled this information.

After unlocking one level of potential with the "Thunder Map," upon visualizing it again, he indeed felt it somewhat lacked substance compared to the thunderous revelation, the potential he had unlocked seemed vast before, but he now realized it was only a very small part within his body.

To unlock the second level of potential, he would have to return to Master Huang or kill the owner of the Fire God Martial Arts Hall to acquire the "Divine Fire Map."

Li Changzhou was more inclined towards the "Divine Fire Map"; if it could enable Zhu Xiongjie to plan for a third development of potential, it was at least Grade A, not to mention it contained real combat skills.

The butterflies fluttered, skimming past building after building, slowly yet resolutely approaching the docks.

"Danger ahead!" Little Radish suddenly shouted.

They didn't need her warning; Li Changzhou and the others had already seen it.

A gigantic basket starfish that looked like a net or perhaps Medusa wielded her tentacles, which seemed entwined like serpents.

"Bang!"

Warships fired, and with enormous explosions, the shock waves cleared a large area of the tentacles in an instant.

Blood and flesh filled the sky, like a downpour of broken corpses.

The very next second, the tentacles regrew instantly, flailing randomly like snakes swarming from their nest, and like olden days tyrants swallowing fishing boats, they enveloped the ships with strong gusts, lashing out fiercely at the warships.

A roar powerful enough to silence everything pierced the air. A meteor-like blaze shot into the sky, distorting the air as it passed.

The falling bits and pieces of corpses, one by one, burst into flames, turning into a shower of fire, falling into the sea, immediately extinguished as if drowned, silent.

As the first batch of ignited debris hit the sea, the massive meteor blaze also struck the swiftly approaching tentacles of the basket starfish.

Intense heat caused the basket starfish to recoil as if electrocuted, thrashing wildly, churning the waters at the dock as if the sea were boiling, threatening to overturn.

After grazing its target, the flame retracted to the high lookout tower of the warship. A burly, cruel-faced old man slowly emerged from the flames.

"Fire the cannons!" he ordered sharply, his killing intent overflowing.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

The cannons on the warships lit up, bursting into giant firework-like explosions, one after another!

"Wooo—" The basket starfish raged, its tentacles releasing endless chill, causing the sea to begin freezing again.

With another explosive breath, it spewed out a large cloud of icy mist, turning all-destructive cannonballs into chunks of ice on the spot.

The sweeping tentacles hurled the frozen bomb shards into the distant sea, causing splashes four or five meters high like dumplings boiling in water.