The mystical thing about the enchanted doorway was that there was no way to determine where it led to.
It might be someplace you had been before, such as that favorite candy store of Chen An’an’s.
Or it could also be someplace you had never seen before, such as the beach Chen Jiu’s enchanted doorway led to.
This was the most anticipated thing about the enchanted doorway, as not even the person who activated it knew where it would lead.
That was because not everyone understood themselves fully. People always tended to avoid the truth in their daily lives.
However, Luo Lan was very self-assured. He had never run away from who he truly was and knew himself very well.
This also made him much more resolute.
The moment Xu Man stepped through the enchanted doorway, he immediately knew where he was. This was… the small one-story house Qing Zhen and Luo Lan used to live in in Stronghold 111.
Back then, they sold their original home to treat their father’s illness and rented a place on Mule Fort Road.
They lived here for eight straight years.
Later, when Qing Zhen became the Qing Consortium’s Shadow, the two brothers started making a meteoric rise and purchased better houses, villas, and manors.
Their lives got better and better.
Xu Man had only been here once, and it was even to help Qing Zhen shift some of his old belongings.
Now that he was here again, he realized the furniture and furnishings were in the exact same place as when he came here a few years ago.
Xu Man asked puzzledly, “Boss Luo, why did your enchanted doorway open here?”
“This is my home,” Luo Lan answered with a chuckle.
“Didn’t you rent this place? I thought you returned it to the landlord,” Xu Man said.
“No, I bought it.” Luo Lan said, “I usually stay here when I’m back at Stronghold 111. But as I’ve had too few opportunities to return to Stronghold 111, you all weren’t aware of it.”
This left Xu Man a little surprised. Luo Lan, the second-in-command of the Qing Consortium, actually lived in such a dilapidated place?
Luo Lan glanced at Xu Man. “Why? It doesn’t suit my style? Don’t look down on this house. I can only sleep well here.”
As he spoke, Luo Lan pushed open the main door of the small house. Outside the door was Mule Fort Road, and there was an uncle at the entrance selling <anno data-annotation-id=”4b8b7e53-7c27-4fc0-e087-c87158f6adcb”>liangpi</anno> from a push-cart with pots and pans on it.
Xu Man was a little surprised. Boss Luo was way too self-assured.
The majority of people in the world would probably find it difficult to guess where their enchanted doorway would lead them.
Luo Lan took in the sight of everything in the small one-bedroom house where their family of three used to curl up in. Their sick father lived in the inner room while he and Qing Zhen slept in the living room.
The two of them slept on a mattress on the floor. When they got into fights outside during the day, Qing Zhen would even quietly bandage Luo Lan’s wounds after they sneaked back in in the middle of the night.
During winter, they still had to carefully keep guard at the door to prevent their neighbors from stealing the briquettes that they had painstakingly stolen from others.
Although they became wealthier after leaving this place, Luo Lan always felt that this small one-story house was the only place that contained all their happiness during his reminiscences.
It was a time without the responsibilities of the Qing Consortium’s Shadow, and they did not have to consider war and politics.
The life those old fogeys lived had still not descended upon their lives yet.
They could laugh all they wanted and endure hardships together as they moved along in life. Occasionally, they would look back and see the hardships they had left behind. As long as they continued walking, every step forward would lead to a better life.
But that did not seem to be the case anymore. Every step they took was becoming more and more difficult. Therefore, Luo Lan did not dare to look back most of the time. He was afraid he could not bear to carry on moving forward.
“Move along now. Soldiers who just came in, keep up. Remember to tread lightly. The flooring isn’t strong enough to begin with,” Luo Lan urged.
180 soldiers marched out of the house one after another and onto the streets of Mule Fort Road.
The uncle selling liangpi was dumbfounded. He could only watch in shock as more than a 100 people marched out of that small little house!
How could a house that was only 50 square feet at most hold so many people? Moreover, they were all heavily armed soldiers!
In an instant, the uncle who sold liangpi suddenly felt like he had discovered the truth. There must be a secret Qing Consortium military base under this house, the kind that was rumored to be hidden underground!
At this moment, the soldiers were raving about the wonders of the enchanted doorway. They had spent several days traveling to the Central Plains, but it only took them a few steps to get back.
“Sir, so this is sorcery?” the commander of the special forces company asked Xu Man.
“Mhm.” Xu Man said, “This is a spell that Boss Luo learned from the Northwest.”
At this point, the company commander subconsciously searched for Luo Lan’s figure. However, Luo Lan was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Boss Luo?” the company commander exclaimed.
The alert Xu Man did not ask any unnecessary questions. He turned around and rushed back into the house. But would Luo Lan still be standing around in this small and cramped space?
Xu Man remembered they had walked out from the wall opposite the television set in the living room, so he hurriedly went to touch it.
But how could there still be an enchanted doorway on the wall at this moment? It had already been personally closed by Luo Lan from the other end!
Xu Man stood on this side of the wall and drew in a deep breath. Boss Luo had pretended to stay calm and tricked all of them to come back to Stronghold 111 because he planned to return to Stronghold 61 alone to save Zhou Qi.
Ren Xiaosu had taught the Enchanted Doorway spell to Luo Lan in secret, so Xu Man and the others did not know how the spell actually worked.
Luo Lan remembered Ren Xiaosu seriously reminding him before they parted ways. Although the enchanted doorway was a two-way portal, there would also be drawbacks if it was used as a means of escape.
If all of them had returned to Stronghold 111 through the enchanted doorway on the bridge pillar and someone were to destroy the Qianling River Bridge, everyone who passed through the portal earlier would tumble back out again at the entrance.
Therefore, Ren Xiaosu instructed him at that time, “If this enchanted doorway is to be used as an escape means, you must get someone to activate it for you. After you’re through to the other side, that person has to turn the Eye of True Sight ten times counterclockwise from the outside of the door and the portal will permanently close. Then those who went through it will no longer be able to return to the other side of the door.”
Since there was a way to activate the enchanted doorway, there would naturally be a way to destroy it as well. Ten clockwise turns would activate the portal, while ten counterclockwise turns would destroy it.
However, it was destined that this method of escape would leave one person standing outside the door while the others made their getaway.
It was destined that the person would get sacrificed.
However, Luo Lan had never mentioned this to Xu Man and the others. In Luo Lan’s opinion, if there were really a need in this plan for someone to sacrifice themselves to protect others, it should be him.
Moreover, it was his own business that he wanted to save Zhou Qi. Why should those 180 soldiers have to risk their lives with him?
If he wanted to take the risk, there was no need for others to pay the price together with him.
Luo Lan knew very well that if he had insisted on saving Zhou Qi earlier on, the soldiers would have had no choice but to go with him.
“As a man, how can I make others sacrifice themselves for me?” Luo Lan muttered.
He did not want Xu Man and the soldiers to risk their lives with him, but he had to save Zhou Qi.
Although that wicked bastard always liked to tease him and only loved money, he was still a friend.
Luo Lan knew that if Zhou Qi only recognized money, the artificial intelligence’s server in Stronghold 61 would not have been blown up.
The timing of the explosion was not correct.
He looked at the destroyed enchanted doorway and turned to walk to an off-road vehicle parked to the side.
But at this moment, the trunk of an off-road vehicle suddenly opened.
“Surprised? Shocked?” Third Brother Qing spat out a mouthful of dust as he emerged from the trunk.
Luo Lan was stunned on the spot. “Wait a minute, you didn’t go through the enchanted doorway just now?”
Third Brother Qing chuckled and said, “I knew none of you cared whether I live or die. Hey, I’ve addressed you as Big Bro, after all, so how could you not pay attention to whether I followed you through the portal or not? I’m so sad.”
Just as Third Brother Qing had said, his role was to come to the Central Plains and pretend to be Qing Zhen. Once this mission was completed, he would not be of much value anymore. A stand-in like him was probably only good for one use.
Moreover, the artificial intelligence, Zero, had already proven that it could differentiate between an original and a stand-in. Therefore, Third Brother Qing’s value was further reduced.
As a result, Xu Man and the others even forgot to check if Third Brother Qing had returned with them back to Stronghold 111.
This was someone all of them had neglected. No one knew when Third Brother Qing had hidden himself in an off-road vehicle’s trunk to wait for Luo Lan’s return.
Third Brother Qing was already taking out guns from the off-road vehicles’ trunks. “How many martyred spirits are there in your Martyr’s Palace? Hurry up and arm them. Let’s get ready to save Zhou Qi.”
There were still some guns and ammunition left in the off-road vehicles’ trunks. Earlier, Xu Man still wanted to take the firearms back with them. However, Luo Lan said not to waste any more time since they were not worth much anyway.
“You stayed behind so you could go with me to save Zhou Qi?” Luo Lan was puzzled. “How did you know I’d definitely come back? If I didn’t, what would you have done?”
“If you didn’t come back, I would just have to drive back to the Southwest by myself. What else could I do?” Third Brother Qing said with a smile, “But I knew you would come back. Even if Zhou Qi is really dead, you’d probably want to confirm it for yourself. When I was with the Pyro Company, I not only studied Qing Zhen but you as well.”
“Studied me?” Luo Lan muttered as he gathered all the firearms from the vehicles onto one vehicle’s trunk. “Why do I get the feeling that you had nothing better to do when you were at the Pyro Company? You were either studying this or that. Don’t you ever play mahjong or Fight the Landlord with your friends?”
Third Brother Qing smiled but did not answer the question.
“Alright, since you’re not afraid of death, go with me to save him,” Luo Lan said.
Third Brother Qing suddenly said, “Haven’t you always been curious why I went to the Southwest? Perhaps this will be a chance for me to answer your question.”
…
On a mountain road 200 kilometers northwest of Stronghold 61, Ren Xiaosu looked quietly at Vanilla and Tang Hualong in front of him.
Ren Xiaosu’s hair was a mess, and his clothes were also dirtied.
This time, the Zero-controlled Dusk had fought too aggressively and forcefully split Ren Xiaosu’s steam locomotive in half. It was just like how the shadow clone, Old Xu, had to reform in his mind palace before it could be used again.
Ren Xiaosu had forcefully made his way here by running. When he felt that it wasn’t fast enough, he even had Old Xu carry him on its back.
Fortunately, when Dusk sent Old Xu flying back during the encounter, it did not hit the shadow clone at its fatal spot between its brows.
At this moment, Vanilla and Tang Hualong stood one in front of the other, with the former protecting the latter behind him.
In the deadlock, Vanilla was surrounded by hundreds of steel needles that kept spinning around his body. Meanwhile, the sugar syrup cooking on the small stove in front of Tang Hualong had already turned amber.
The old man surnamed Tang stirred the heated pot with a large metal ladle. It was as though he was about to scoop out a spoonful of sugar syrup and pour it onto the smooth iron plate next to him.
“Who sent you all here to stop me?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Surely there’s no need for us to answer that, right?” Vanilla said calmly.
Ren Xiaosu asked again, “I’ll ask you once more, was it Wang Shengzhi who gave you the orders, or was it the AI?”
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu even saw white paper cranes continuously landing on the treetops and perching on tree branches by the roadside. Those cute yet terrifying little fellas rested on the branches and preened their nonexistent feathers.
“AI?” Vanilla wondered, “Commander Wang Shengzhi called us.”
“In other words, you weren’t given the orders in person by Wang Shengzhi.” Ren Xiaosu nodded and said, “Then before you all came to stop me, did you know what you would be facing?”
Tang Hualong answered, “We were only told to delay you here, but he didn’t say for how long.”
“With just the few of you?” Ren Xiaosu sneered.
When he said that, Vanilla and Tang Hualong’s hearts skipped a beat. Meanwhile, the paper cranes on the branches by the roadside stopped moving and turned around to “stare” at Ren Xiaosu.
Then a dark cloud floated over in the sky. The clear sky suddenly turned dark. It was as though the world was catering to Ren Xiaosu’s anger.
Ren Xiaosu made his move like lightning, taking advantage just as the dark clouds cast a large shadow on the ground.
A Shadow Door opened up in front of Ren Xiaosu as he reached out and flipped the stove and pot in front of Tang Hualong, splashing the hot sugar syrup all over the ground.
It happened in an instant. After that, it was as though none of them had moved a finger, leaving Vanilla and Tang Hualong stunned in their spots.
Tang Hualong wanted to cry. He had experienced many battles, but this was the first time he had seen an enemy like Ren Xiaosu who could directly overturn his pot.
But it just happened this move was the most effective against him.
Ren Xiaosu said, “For Yang Xiaojin’s sake, I don’t wish to be enemies with y’all. So please make way for me. There’s someone I need to save.”
Vanilla and Tang Hualong looked at each other. Actually, they did not even know why they had to stop Ren Xiaosu from heading to the Central Plains. Now that Ren Xiaosu said that he was going there to save someone, they realized they did not even know who he wanted to save.
Yang Anjing slowly turned out of a mountain path. “Who are you going to save?”
“Luo Lan,” Ren Xiaosu said coldly.
“Wang Shengzhi has no intention of killing Luo Lan.” Yang Anjing said calmly, “You can rest easy about that.”
“Wang Shengzhi might not have any intention of killing him, but what about the AI, Zero?” Ren Xiaosu said, “Tang Zhou, who was tasked with sending intel to our Northwest Army, died on the way to Stronghold 144. On my way to the Central Plains, I was even chased after and stopped by Zero. Do y’all know about this?”
Yang Anjing fell into deep thought. “Those were not part of the Wang Consortium’s plans, so how can you be sure that this was not the Qing Consortium’s scheme? They’re deliberately trying to discredit the Wang Consortium.”
Yang Anjing’s understanding of the artificial intelligence was not as clear as Wang Shengzhi’s. After Wang Shengzhi guessed that Zero might have gained sentience, he did not reveal it to Yang Anjing.
Therefore, even Yang Anjing did not know that Zero was already completely different from what she knew about it.
Ren Xiaosu said, “I’m very sure it was done by the AI. Since Wang Shengzhi never had any intention of hurting Luo Lan, why did he insist on sending y’all to stop me? What is he afraid of? If you don’t find it suspicious, let me ask you again. When you received your orders, can you confirm that they were given by Wang Shengzhi himself?”
Yang Anjing fell into deep thought. She had found it a little strange this time, but the problem was that no one thought to suspect Zero’s involvement.
There was no problem with Wang Shengzhi’s voice and tone at all when he issued the order. Even his coughing over the phone sounded no different from what she remembered.
But just as Ren Xiaosu had said, she knew exactly how Wang Shengzhi viewed the peace talks this time. Based on Wang Shengzhi’s character, he would even be a little happy if he knew that Ren Xiaosu was coming.
Translated by: Legge
Edited by: weirdo
ww web novel com /book/the-first-order_14219251705674005
<annotations ><ol class=”tinymce-annotation-container”><li data-annotation-id=”4b8b7e53-7c27-4fc0-e087-c87158f6adcb”>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liangpi | Liangpi is a Chinese dish composed of cold skin noodles made from wheat or rice flour. It is a specialty dish originating from the cuisine of Shaanxi Province.</li></ol></annotations>”,
