"I’m fine, just about to die."
"How can you say you’re fine? I’ll find soone to treat you right away!"
"No need, this is pneumoconiosis, it’s incurable."
After rejecting Mars, Herbert helplessly asked, "Why did you co back after leaving? And you left a special mark to call out for a eting."
"I ca for revenge!"
Mars’s eyes were filled with hatred. For the past seven years, he hadn’t forgotten the blood feud of the Embers Race for a single mont: "Let’s go, Herbert, let’s restore the Kingdom of Embers together!"
"Cough cough~"
Herbert coughed weakly and declined with a grim smile: "What can we do alone? Moreover, even if we could muster an army, in the face of the steam frenzy of the Iron Fury Empire, even the bravest knight would be easily crushed. Forget the hatred, you should think about how to survive."
"No!"
Mars’s eyes burned with fire: "If I can’t take revenge, what is the aning of my existence? And this ti it’s different, I’m not coming back alone, I have a great Emperor standing behind , his power is unimaginable, I even think he is a living God."
Seeing Herbert’s disbelief, Mars took out a refined steel dagger he carried and crushed it into a lump of scrap tal with his bare hands in front of him.
This ti, Herbert showed a look of astonishnt, and then he was invigorated: "A human body can actually counter steel!"
"Hahaha!"
For the first ti, Mars showed a carefree expression: "This is the power of Martial Dao; the Great Qi’s Emperor’s Divine Skill is unparalleled, founding the Heart Martial Sect. And I have been granted this power."
"That’s wonderful!"
Upon hearing this, Herbert was moved to tears. His one remaining eye ignited with the fla of hope, looking at Mars with eyes full of anticipation: "Can I also master such power?"
"Yes!"
Eventually, Mars took Herbert back to the stronghold.
At the Cunning Rabbit Trading Group base, Wang Junfeng took off his hood, revealing a blonde-haired, blue-eyed face. Beside him were several attendants whose appearance was no different from the people of the Land of the Setting Sun.
In fact, they were all loyal subjects of the Great Qi, but they had temporarily modified so of their physical traits to resemble the Sunset People through control over their bodies.
This trading post was actually a Great Qi intelligence outpost installed in the Divine Forged City.
Seven years ago, Ye Qingzhou, after learning about steam technology from Mars, began preparing for the inevitable battle over Dao.
Sweeping a glance at Herbert, who was brought back by Mars, Wang Junfeng asked in a deep voice: "Who is he?"
The mont Herbert was caught by Wang Junfeng’s sidelong glance, he felt as if struck by lightning, his muscles spasming all over, unable to move even a finger.
His heart was terrified: ’How strong! Just a gaze can freeze in place!’
Mars quickly explained: "Rest assured, General, he is soone we can trust."
He then explained Herbert’s identity to Wang Junfeng. As the forr Captain of the Palace Guard of the Kingdom of Embers, Herbert had narrowly escaped death, making a living as a coal miner in a mine.
Life was bitter, he even contracted a terminal illness, hardly looking like a spy, and should be trustworthy.
But Wang Junfeng didn’t believe a bit of it, he turned his gaze to Mars: "Are you a spy for the Iron Fury Empire?"
"No."
"Would you betray us?"
"No."
"Good, you didn’t lie."
Wang Junfeng sensed Herbert’s thoughts with the Martial Arts Heart, confirming he was reliable.
Finally finding a local person who survived the old and new transitions in Divine Forged City, Wang Junfeng patiently learned about the local situation from Herbert.
Then, Wang Junfeng was stunned by the various news he received.
It must be said, having acquired steam technology, the Iron Fury Empire was very developed in terms of productivity, even technically surpassing the Great Qi.
Sadly, the increased productivity did not benefit the lower and middle class citizens of the Iron Fury Empire; in fact, their lives were far worse than the citizens of the Great Qi, even at the end of Da Liang, the farrs harshly oppressed in the Central Plains Region lived far better than the workers in the Iron Fury Empire.
In the civilian class of Divine Forged City, the average lifespan of workers was a re twenty-two years. In other cities, workers living to nineteen were considered lucky.
Without a sewage system in the slums, the expected lifespan of workers was only thirteen years, with half of them starting work at the age of eight.
These children were important labor for factories, mines, and agriculture, working the sa long hours as adults: twelve-hour shifts, crawling under dangerous looms, hauling coal in narrow mines, or working in agricultural guilds for ager inco.
The other half began working at age two, for tasks like clearing narrow chimneys that adults couldn’t fit through.
Many tis, factories do not shut down machinery while cleaning chimneys, so young children must endure high temperatures and thick smoke to work.
Many kids died from smoke inhalation inside chimneys, with their bodies left uncleared for the next child to clean, or simply left to "smoke-cure" and "dry". Years later, their remains are discovered.
For factory owners, the compensation for a child’s death is much cheaper than the loss from shutting down machinery.
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