Castle of Black Iron - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: A Small Figure’s Selfishness
Translator: WQL Editor: Geoffrey
On the highest point of Wild Wolf Castle, besides the blue flag, there was
another flag; there was a red flag raised up, which meant that important news
or a notice had been released. Even from several kilometers away from Wild
Wolf Castle, everyone could see that red flag.
On the evening when Zhang Tie had sent back Pandora and a group of girls
who had wanted to form a team with the Hit-Plane Brotherhood to Wild Wolf
Castle, Zhang Tie had already known of the contents of that notice.
Compared to the amazed expressions of the other members of the Hit-Plane
Brotherhood, Zhang Tie had already mentally prepared himself for the arrival
of this piece of news. While everyone in Wild Wolf Valley was noisily
discussing the situation in Blackhot City, not a single one of them knew that
Zhang Tie was the one who had accidentally triggered the entire incident in
Blackhot City. This event was the hottest topic both in Wild Wolf Valley and
Blackhot City. As for the identity of the one that had sent out the letter which
started the entire incident in Blackhot City, nobody was able to give an answer;
however, the government of Blackhot City did exert all their efforts in an
attempt to find this person, but in the end, it was still not enough to reverse
the flow of time back to the day when the mysterious person had sent that
letter through the mailbox by the post office located in the city square of
Blackhot City. It had already turned into a secret that would never be revealed.
It was only when this event had broken out in Blackhot City that everyone
knew that the Red-scarf Burglars, who were well-prepared and were
conspiring with the Niumuen Business Group to take over Blackhot City both
internally and externally, had been lurking in a hidden location that was less
than 150 km away from Blackhot City. When the Niumuen Business Group was
swept out by the army of Blackhot City and had schemes exposed, the Redscarf
Burglars retreated from their hiding spot like a pack of wolves, and when
they had reappeared, they caused a disaster in Lance City and involved the Sun
Dynasty in this chaos, leading them to confronting the Andaman Alliance.
“Mysterious Warner”—that was the nickname that Zhang Tie had received
when the incident broke out in Blackhot City. Some said that the “Mysterious
Warner’, the person who had started the incident in Blackhot City, was a bandit
that was part of the Red-scarf Burglars, some said that this “Mysterious
Warner” was a top fighter who lived in seclusion in Blackhot City, while there
were also some who said that this “Mysterious Warner” was a political enemy
of Marshal Lin Changjiang, the governor of the northern border of the Norman
Empire… There were all kinds of speculations about the “Mysterious Warner”;
however, no one had guessed that the “Mysterious Warner” was actually just
an ordinary youth from an ordinary national male middle school situated in
Blackhot City that was currently attending a survival training in Wild Wolf

Valley. Not to mention, the same youth had even almost destroyed an
influential figure’s intention to obtain recovery medication in Blackhot City.
Sometimes, there were rumors that were grounded with strong logic, and there
were also various possibilities that seemed true; however, truth was something
that was always extremely dramatic, as the people’s daily lives and the earthly
world doesn’t give one the opportunity to be rational and logical. This was just
like a famous story on the well-known Butterfly Effect[1]. There was once a
blacksmith who had dropped a nail on the ground, which later injured a
horse’s hoof. Because the horse was wounded, the knight who rode it lost a
battle, which directly influenced the war between two nations, finally leading
to the destruction of a country.
Zhang Tie had learned this theory in science class at school. It was only when
he had heard of the incident in Blackhot City did Zhang Tie realize that what he
had rightly done was drop the nail that wounded the horse’s hoof. After
walking into Huck, who had already been killed by Zhang Tie, near the railway
station, he had changed so many things.
The “nail” had truly changed some of the details and slowed the development
of the situation; however, the Norman Empire and the Sun Dynasty were
already rolling without stop towards the Andaman Alliance and Blackhot City,
much like huge wheels with unstoppable momentum. Just the start of the
huge, rolling wheels had already created great waves in Wild Wolf Valley.
Many of the people here had to serve in the army after graduation, which
meant that they would have to directly face these two huge forces, the Norman
Empire and the Sun Dynasty, and perhaps they may even fight the army of
these two countries on the battlefield, thus all the students attending the
survival training in Wild Wolf Valley felt as if a huge burden had been placed
on their fates. Facing the incoming and uncertain future, many people felt
confused and frightened.
Tonight, with the exception of Zhang Tie, everyone else in the Hit-Plane
Brotherhood was trying their best to cultivate the basic skills of Iron-Blood
Fist. They continued to do so until they were all extremely fatigued and were
gasping as they laid on the grass.
In truth, Zhang Tie could actually stick to it for a while longer; however, when
he saw Bagdad, with eyes fixed on him, practicing the Lying-Tiger Stake as the
blue veins on his forehead especially stood out, Zhang Tie could only pretend
to be exhausted before throwing himself onto the ground. Ten seconds after
Zhang Tie had “given up”, Bagdad, who was no longer able to hold on, also
heaved a deep sigh and ended his practice. For Bagdad, if he couldn’t remain
the strongest fighter in the Hit-Plane Brotherhood, then it would be a great
strike to his pride.
Two moons hung in the sky—one was a silver crescent, while the other was a
pale blue full moon; one was big, while the other was small. The moonlight
cascaded down and enveloped Wild Wolf Valley with a layer of a beautiful, pale
blue, and white brilliance. Accompanied by the two moons, the stars in the sky

looked particularly splendent, the cicadas on the Dragon-Claw Trees were
chirping, the crickets in the grass were tweeting, while the howls of the
looming wolves drifted over; the entire Wild Wolf Valley was extremely
tranquil.
The members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood simply laid there and silently
looked at the sky for more than ten minutes.
“If I was killed on the battlefield, someone who is still alive among you must
remember to hand over my pension to my family since that amount of money
could allow my two younger brothers to live a bit better!” Sharwin silently
opened his mouth. Sharwin was good in all aspects, except he was too
pessimistic sometimes.
“You’d better stay alive. If you die, we would only use your pension to sleep
with women and let your bastard dad and two younger brothers go to hell!”
Hista cursed.
“Bastard!” Sharwin cursed in a low voice before he laughed out loudly.
“I heard the Iron-Horn Army Group under the flagship of Lin Changjiang, the
governor of the Northern Border Army Group of Norman Empire, and the
Brilliant Feathers of the Sun Dynasty are both composed of war maniacs and
madmen. Do you think we might encounter them?” Doug said dejectedly.
“Don’t be that pessimistic. We should not be that unlucky to have to fight
against the armies of the Norman Empire and the Sun Dynasty. As for the
entire Andaman Alliance, those two countries are two super powers, each of
whom is much more powerful than the Andaman Alliance. Because of this
great gap in force, if there truly is a battle with any one of the two countries,
the Andaman Alliance would definitely lose. Since the wealthy big figures are
definitely more afraid of death than us, I think that a war would not break out.
For the Andaman Alliance, this is a war that they are doomed to lose, and they
would never bet on this war at the risk of their own lives. Two kids with the
same strength might fight over a piece of candy, but a tough man would never
fight a kid, let alone two tough men fighting a kid at the same time...” Lying on
the ground, Leit said so.
“Hmm, I feel that Leit’s words are reasonable. We don’t need to feel that
stressed!” Barley added.
“Even if a war doesn’t break out, the Andaman Alliance would still not have a
bright future. In the history of Blackson Human Clan Corridor, it has always
consisted of at most 70 city-states; however, this number has been gradually
decreasing. In the end, every city-state would see one of two outcomes. The
first would be the emergence of a talented or mighty figure who would unite
them all into a country. The other would be that the city-states would break
apart and be annexed by the surrounding powers. For the Andaman Alliance, it
doesn’t have a talented or mighty figure, and under their eyes, the Norman
Empire and the Sun Dynasty would never allow it to become a united country,
thus the final outcome for the Andaman Alliance and Blackhot City might be
being annexed by either the Norman Empire or the Sun Dynasty. Once

annexed, this region would face high coercion for at least the next few dozen
years. If this matter cannot be settled through peaceful manners, then even if
we don’t die on the battlefields, we would not be able to live well in the
future...” Sharwin continued to speak in a pessimistic way.
Hearing Sharwin’s words, everyone became silent once again. No one rebutted,
as they all knew that Sharwin was telling the heaviest and undeniable truth.
“So you’re saying that even if we’re not cannon fodder on the battlefield, we
would be slaves after our country dies. Hmm, although the Andaman Alliance
and Blackhot City cannot be considered a country, it's almost the same!” Hista
said dejectedly.
“For this event, I feel… it will be settled through peaceful means!” Barley said
in an unconfident and low voice.
“But, I have always felt that something is off. The Andaman Alliance, the Sun
Dynasty, and the Norman Empire have maintained peace for over half a
century, so why are they giving us trouble now at the same time?” Doug
suddenly hit the key point like an idiot.
Not knowing the reason, when he heard Doug’s words, Zhang Tie suddenly
thought back to the squirrels that were busily storing pine nuts in the trees to
survive through the winter.
“No matter what reason it is, if it is related to us, we will know about it sooner
or later. That’s why, we don’t need to rack our brains on that matter...” Bagdad
gloomily said. “The most important thing for us right now is to improve our
own strength. As you know, in this age, people without strength will not have
freedom. Only when we have strength could we control our own fate. If we are
well-practiced in the Iron-Blood Fist Skill, then why would we need to be
concerned about these boring questions?”
“Bighead, why are you silent? Aren’t you worried...” Lying on the ground,
Barley turned his head and asked Zhang Tie.
“I think you are all right. But to tell you the truth, I don’t really care about the
future of Blackhot City and the Andaman Alliance too much. Perhaps it is
because I am Chinese, a minority in Blackhot City of the Andaman Alliance. I
am not able to assume any more responsibilities for the fate of the Andaman
Alliance and Blackhot City. My family has already sacrificed one life for the
Andaman Alliance and Blackhot City. No matter what, I do not want my family
to sacrifice another life for them, and neither would I make such a sacrifice. I
only have a few desires in my life. As long as my loved ones can live well, as
long as I have enough money and beloved women, then I will be satisfied...”
Looking at the beautiful stars in the sky, Zhang Tie forced a smile. What
happened in Blackhot City and the Andaman Alliance really shocked him a lot.
Although he had changed the speed of the development to some degree, he
realized he couldn’t change the final outcome. At the very least, the fate of his
loved ones have not changed at all. This was the cause of the feelings of
frustrations and powerlessness that small figures would feel.

Bagdad’s words were true. Instead of hoping for the world to develop like your
imagination, it was better to make yourself stronger, as this was true strength.
In contrast, everything else was bullsh*t. For Zhang Tie himself, if he wanted
to become powerful, he would have to depend on the Castle of Black Iron and
the small tree within.
Although Zhang Tie had never thought that he was selfish, sometimes, the
Castle of Black Iron and the small tree brought Zhang Tie a sense of
selfishness. If this age could be seen as a large wheel that was rolling forward,
then Zhang Tie felt that, with the exception of himself, who was someone who
could jump out of its path and stay in his own world, everyone else could only
be chased by the large wheel that surged forth as they oozed sweat all over.
The world where Zhang Tie stayed in was also a wheel that only belonged to
Zhang Tie. Although it was very small, Zhang Tie could happily push it forward
in a speed faster than the others. Soon after, the others would be far behind
him and his world. Zhang Tie felt that he was truly a bit heartless; although
everyone else was concerned about the future of Blackhot City and the
Andaman ALliance, he was just thinking about how many mining baskets filled
with ores he should move into the Castle of Black Iron in order to quickly
increase the amount of basic energy storage inside. While everyone was
worried about turning into slaves in the occupied areas in the future, Zhang Tie
was thinking about his circumcision after the completion of the survival
training. “ Damn it! It truly does not feel good to be a virgin among a group of
horny students.” Honestly, Zhang Tie really didn’t think that the fate of the
Andaman Alliance and Blackhot city was more important than his
circumcision surgery. “Am I selfish? If this is being selfish, then I prefer to be
selfish. Who f*cking decided that the future of the Andaman Alliance and
Blackhot City is more important than my future? Who the f*ck decided that the
‘sexual pleasures’ of the privileged figures are more important than my ‘sexual
pleasures’? Who the f*ck decided that a small figure like me has to share
difficulties with the big figures, but not the pleasures? F*ck, I will do what I can
do and I will enjoy myself. So what!?”
In the current situation, it was as if many naked people were struggling to rush
forward in the snowfield in order to escape the snowstorm that was chasing
them. In contrast, Zhang Tie was sitting inside the train and was eating hot
pot, leaving the group of people behind along with the “crack crack” sounds
made by the moving train. This was another lifestyle that had been brought by
the Castle of Black Iron and that small tree. If he didn’t have the small tree and
the Castle of Black Iron, then Zhang Tie would have been just like them; he
would have been a member of the people rushing forward in the snowfield as
they tried to escape from the snowstorm that was chasing them. Fortunately,
he had that small tree and the Castle of Black Iron, allowing him to sit in the
train to enjoy hot pot. If he could enjoy such a good treatment, then why not
enjoy it? Anyone with a normal mind would make this choice!
……

It was Zhang Tie’s turn to be on duty for the first half of the evening tonight.
Crouching in a pit on the tree, Zhang Tie watched and listened to the
surroundings while visualizing an abacus in his mind as he practiced mental
arithmetic using the abacus. He practiced various operations. He did addition
and subtraction with numbers between 1 to 1000. He did multiplication with
any two digit numbers, any two digit numbers with three digit numbers, and
any two digit numbers with four digit numbers; he had even done the reverse
with division. Over the past few days, Zhang Tie hadn’t give up on practicing
mental arithmetics using the abacus, and as a result, he has made steady
improvements to his calculation skills. Now, with just a glimpse, he would
easily get the answer of any addition or subtraction problem within three
digits, and any multiplication or division problem between two digit numbers.
Additionally, as a benefit of his boring yet self-gratifying training, his spiritual
energy had also gradually increased. Compared to his spiritual energy when he
had started the survival training, Zhang Tie’s spiritual energy had already
increased by about 2%.
It was only when Barley had replaced him for the second half of the night did
Zhang Tie climb back into his own hole to sleep. At the sight of Zhang Tie,
Barley was also curious. While the others always looked extremely tired the
morning after their duty, how come this guy becomes even more high-spirited
when he finishes his duty? Could it be that he had adapted to the nightlife?
After he finished practicing mental arithmetic using the abacus, Zhang Tie lied
down, but he did not fall asleep; instead, he silently injected his spiritual
energy into the Trouble-Reappearance Fruit, leading to him entering another
virtual world...
……
It was the same dusk, the same valley, the same path, the same grass where the
wolves had drilled out and charged towards him. Zhang Tie waved his dagger
towards them...
Several minutes later, the three wolves turned into corpses once again.
Looking at that wound on his hand that was left by the sharp fang of one of the
wolves, Zhang Tie shook his head…
Boom...
Everything turned into specks of lights.
……
One minute later, after Zhang Tie injected his spiritual energy into that
Trouble-Reappearance Fruit to activate the same scene once again, Zhang Tie
entered it for the second time tonight.
It was the same dusk, the same valley, the same path, and the same grass...
This time, Zhang Tie changed his “trick”. Before the wolves had drilled out of
the grass, Zhang Tie had already rushed into the grass to fight the three wolves
with his dagger. However, after this trial, Zhang Tie realized that grass was
more restrictive to humans than it was to wolves. In fact, the latter even had

more advantages in the grass. The result of this fight was that Zhang Tie once
again became afraid of death and pain...
……
Zhang Tie then exited the scene and rushed inside one minute later...
Zhang Tie repeated this process until his spiritual energy was exhausted.
When he could no longer activate the Trouble-Reappearance Fruit, he fell
asleep.
……
The other members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood would never know that this
guy sleeping beside them had already experienced eight life-or-death fights
with three wolves in a hidden place which only existed in Zhang Tie’s mind
within half an hour since he finished his duty. Through fighting many times,
Zhang Tie had suffered less wounds than before, and the three wolves had died
faster than before...
Before he fell asleep, one last thought appeared in his mind—maybe I should
jump into that deep hole left by the Gold-Eating Boas again tomorrow and see
what kind of feeling it will give...
[1] Butterfly Effect: A small matter triggers successively bigger events. Read
more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect