313: Chapter 313 The Mandate of a New Territory, the Beginning of Expansion

The wind had just stopped, and Chen Wuwang still stood on the high platform. The blue light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flickered slightly, while three red dots continued to blink silently on the monitor.

He didn't move or speak again; he only slowly withdrew his left hand from his trouser pocket, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the edge of the stone table—da, da, da—like some sort of countdown.

Suddenly, a whisper echoed in his mind.

"The Chen family shall obtain a new territory."

The voice was soft, yet it struck like a thunderclap.

He snapped his eyes open, his silver hair tossing as a slight curve spread across his lips—not a smile, but the tremor of a blade before it leaves its sheath.

"Hahahaha—!"

A burst of mad laughter erupted, startling the clansmen who had just dispersed in the square; they stopped in their tracks and turned their heads one after another.

Inside the Council Hall, Chen Tiezhu was squatting under a mecha cabin checking the wiring. His hand shook when he heard the laughter, and he didn't even bother to curse when the wrench hit his instep as he scrambled to his feet.

"Crap, has the Family Head gone crazy again?"

Before his voice could fade, the door was kicked open.

Chen Wuwang strode in, his shoulder armor clanging against the doorframe. He scanned the room, his gaze landing on Chen Xiaodao, who was wiping a dagger in the corner.

"Xiao Dao!"

"Present." Chen Xiaodao looked up, raising a sword-like eyebrow.

"Prepare to set out."

"Where to?"

"The new territory."

Chen Tiezhu was stunned. "What? Where did this new territory come from? Who gave it to us? Did we conquer it? Or steal it?"

"The System said so." Chen Wuwang walked to the stone table, his fingers continuing to tap lightly. "'The Chen family shall obtain a new territory.' Just those seven words. It didn't say where or how to get it, but I know—this is fate."

Chen Tiezhu opened his mouth to argue but swallowed his words. Three years ago, when the mineral vein appeared and the Zerg Egg Core was born, which time hadn't started with a heavenly secret instruction that eventually came true? He wiped his face and suddenly grinned. "Damn it, I've been doing Artifact Refining for thirty years, guarding a broken furnace every day. Can I finally change places to swing my hammer?"

"It's more than just changing places." Chen Wuwang's eyes shone brightly. "It's expansion. From today on, we stop defending. We attack."

Chen Xiaodao slowly stood up and hung his sword back at his waist, the metal buckle locking with a click. "No matter where it is, we'll fight our way there."

"Right!" Chen Tiezhu slammed his fist onto the table. "I've been suppressed for too long! The Technology Workshop just finished refitting the lines, and three hundred mechas are waiting to roll off the assembly line. Yet we spend every day guarding against thieves and assassins like shrinking turtles! Now it's great—new territory, new furnaces, new battlefields! I'm going to build an Artifact Refining city ten times larger than the Eastern Wasteland!"

Bai Ling floated in from outside, her feet not touching the ground. A Nature Compass rotated slowly in her palm, and a faint smile played on her face. "The wind told me some news. There's a dormant Spiritual Vein to the southeast that hasn't been touched for a long time. Perhaps... that's it?"

"I don't care where it is!" Chen Wuwang turned to leave. "Pass down the order: the Vanguard Team is to assemble immediately and line up before the city gate! Deploy five 'dawn'-class mechas to lead the way, equipped with navigation matrices, infrastructure modules, and energy cores. Load all combat readiness supplies onto the trucks!"

"Wait!" Chen Tiezhu chased after him. "You don't even have a map, and you're just charging in? What if it's a death zone?"

"It's precisely because there is no map that we must go." Chen Wuwang looked back, the claw marks on his right cheek glinting coldly in the morning light. "Wait for others to scout the path, build the city, and divide the land before we go and beg for a meal on our knees? Dream on! We are the first to arrive, so we are the masters!"

He paused, his voice lowering. "Besides, have you forgotten? We never rely on luck to survive. We rely on—the initiative."

The three of them understood instantly.

What the System gave was never empty words.

Chen Xiaodao immediately turned around. "I'll lead the Sword Cultivator Team to provide flank protection."

"I'll keep an eye on the transport formation!" Chen Tiezhu wiped his grease-stained face. "The energy System cannot be interrupted. I'll escort the trucks personally!"

"Then I'll go ahead." Bai Ling leaped up lightly, her compass floating in the air. "The winds of nature will clear the mist for us."

In less than half a stick of incense's time, the formation was complete before the city gate.

Five pitch-black mechas stood side by side, their cockpits glowing with faint blue light patterns as their tracks crushed the frost residue from last night.

The logistics convoy was fully loaded with equipment, with boxes labeled 'Psionic Drive', 'Detachable', and 'Self-Assembling'.

Every member of the Sword Cultivator Team was armored. Chen Xiaodao stood at the front of the right flank, his mechanical arm joints whirring slightly as his hand gripped the sword hilt.

Chen Wuwang boarded the flagship mecha, the dawn, and the cockpit slowly closed.

The communication channel opened, and his voice spread throughout the team: "Remember, we aren't going there to pick up territory. We are going there—to establish our destiny! The Chen family's land must be carved out by our own hands! Set out!"

Engines roared and exploded into life, making the ground tremble.

The mecha tracks rolled over the stone steps of the city gate, making heavy clacking sounds. Amidst the flying dust, the team slowly began to move.

Sitting in the logistics command vehicle, Chen Tiezhu watched the dawn leading the way through the glass and couldn't help but mutter, "Do you think the Family Head planned this all along? Last night he called for battle, and this morning we're setting out... The enemies haven't even arrived, and we're already gone."

A technician beside him grinned. "Isn't that better? Let them come to an empty place and then try to find us? Hmph, by the time they find the new territory, the grass on their graves will be three meters high."

"Cut the crap!" Chen Tiezhu slapped him. "Check the output power of the third energy group! Don't let anything go wrong on the road!"

Meanwhile, Chen Xiaodao led the Sword Cultivator Team to guard the right flank. The ten members fanned out, alertly scanning both sides of the wasteland.

"Captain, are we really just going like this?" Er Gouzi lowered his voice. "We didn't even send out a scout?"

"No need." Chen Xiaodao stared at the sandy shadows ahead. "The Family Head said the direction given by the System won't be wrong. We just need to fight our way out."

"But... what if there's an ambush?"

"Then let them ambush us." Chen Xiaodao sneered. "It's not like we're going there to hide anyway."

The team traveled thirty miles and entered the Rift Valley Sand Belt.

The wind suddenly surged, yellow sand swirling into the sky, and visibility plummeted.

The navigator's alarm sounded: "Interference increasing, positioning deviation has reached 3.7 kilometers!"

"Damn it!" Chen Tiezhu roared inside the vehicle. "Start the backup calibration program! Fast!"

"It's not working!" The technician panicked. "The signal is being distorted by the sandstorm. The matrix can't hold up!"

"Bai Ling!" Chen Wuwang shouted over the channel.

"Got it!" Bai Ling floated three meters above the team, holding up the Nature Compass with both hands while chanting an ancient incantation. The wind direction shifted slightly, and the sandstorm in the main team's path was forcibly torn open.

"Psionic Navigation Matrix, activate!" Chen Wuwang ordered.

The five mechas quickly changed formation into a star pattern, simultaneously releasing interference shielding waves.

Blue light wove into a net, steadily covering the entire team.

"Coordinates locked!" the navigator shouted. "Route restored!"

"Keep moving!" Chen Wuwang gripped the control stick. "No matter how strong the wind is, it won't blow away our path!"

Chen Tiezhu breathed a sigh of relief, wiped his sweat, and cursed, "This damn weather, acting up right at this time."

"It's not the weather." Bai Ling landed and stood on top of his vehicle, her compass turning lightly. "It's the Earth Pulse moving. That new territory... is about to wake up."

Chen Xiaodao looked up toward the hazy gray horizon and said softly, "Then let's get there faster."

The team continued forward, mecha tracks grinding over sand and stone, the Sword Cultivators' steps steady, and the logistics wheels rolling onward.

Chen Wuwang sat in the cockpit, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye continuously scanning the terrain ahead as data streams refreshed incessantly.

He didn't speak again; his fingers just continued to tap lightly on the console—da, da, da.

Like counting the distance, or like a countdown to the unfolding of destiny.

The sun climbed past its zenith, and the wind gradually died down.

In the distance, the blurred outline of a mountain range faintly emerged.

Bai Ling squinted for a long time and suddenly smiled. "We're here."

Chen Wuwang looked up at that unknown land and slowly uttered two words:

"dawn."