Chapter 134: Conflict and Journey

Lewis, having nothing better to do, called over a few of the savages, dismantled one of their shacks, and proceeded to rebuild it according to Chen Mu’s methods.

With Chen Mu guiding him from the side, Lewis picked it up quickly. The structure of such a thing was not complex; most people could learn it if they put their minds to it, but the first person to conceive of it was a genius.

The savages were delighted and, following Lewis’s example, began tearing down their homes to rebuild them.

When lunchtime arrived, Chen Mu said to Lewis, “I am leaving here today.”

Lewis was taken aback. “Oh? So soon?”

Chen Mu replied, “Yes. A day has passed, and my soldiers have not yet found me, which means this place is quite remote. I need to head out and find my way.”

Lewis said, “Oh, you can just go out through the gate and follow the footprints…”

“No, no, no,” Chen Mu interrupted. “You don’t need to say these things. You are coming with me.”

Lewis looked at Chen Mu, bewildered. “But you said the Western Kingdom has already fled.”

Chen Mu laughed. “That is precisely why you are coming with me. You will follow me to survey Chizhou—this land here. I believe you will be of help.”

Lewis felt a flicker of interest, but also hesitation. “This… but I am a man of the Western Kingdom.”

Chen Mu shook his head. “Although the Western Kingdom is my enemy, people of the Western Kingdom can be good or bad. On the battlefield, one can only speak with guns, but in private, one can distinguish between the two. The same applies to the people of Daxia and Huaguo; there are good and bad among them all. One cannot generalize.”

Lewis was deeply moved. “Chen Mu, thank you. Actually, I am a researcher myself; I can certainly be of help to you all.”

Chen Mu smiled faintly. “Very well.”

However, Chen Mu did not place much stock in Lewis being a “researcher.” After all, having been in contact with Huaguo for so long, Chen Mu had already mastered a great deal of technology. What advanced knowledge could Lewis, a man who had left the Western Kingdom ten years ago, possibly possess?

As they were talking, they suddenly heard chaos in the distance. A large group of savages came running toward them, letting out cries of terror as they fled.

Lewis stood up, exchanged a few words with the savages, and then said to Chen Mu, “They say that outside the gate, someone is attacking them. People have died.”

Chen Mu stood up as well.

If someone were attacking them here, it was almost certainly his own soldiers. It was truly thoughtless of these soldiers; how could they kill unarmed savages?

Lewis looked at Chen Mu. “What now?”

Chen Mu thought for a moment. Since some of the savages had already been killed, if things continued this way, they might fight his soldiers to the death, as the savages had no concept of the vast disparity in combat power. Although his army did not fear these savages, these people did not deserve to die.

“Right, do this: tell them…”

Lewis listened, nodded, and then walked to a high point, shouting and gesturing wildly to the savages. The gist of it was that Chen Mu was a general from a divine kingdom; they had captured him, and now his army had come to punish them. This was all a result of their own ignorance, and the lives lost were the price that had to be paid.

Upon hearing this, the savages were indeed terrified. They knelt on the ground, begging for mercy with miserable wails.

Chen Mu was pleased. Now that the savages would not resist, his army would not have to kill them. Chen Mu shouted in their native tongue:

“I am going over there to make them leave.”

The savages were deeply moved, believing Chen Mu was going to drive away the enemy, and they thanked him with another round of wails.

Chen Mu walked out with Lewis following behind. Before they even reached the gate, they saw a squad of soldiers holding firearms, cautiously moving inward. When the soldiers spotted Chen Mu, they were overcome with excitement.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

“Thank goodness! Are you unharmed?”

“Heaven be praised!”

Chen Mu nodded. “I am fine. Who gave the order to kill?”

The squad leader hesitated for a moment. “It was General Zhang.”

Chen Mu replied, “Very well, I will ask him.”

With that, Chen Mu walked toward the outside, followed by the soldiers and Lewis. Lewis noticed that the soldiers all carried firearms and felt a surge of curiosity, thinking perhaps Huaguo had provided them.

Once they stepped outside the gate, Lewis was stunned on the spot. Before him stood over a thousand men, each holding a firearm. At their feet were hundreds of vehicles, which looked even more refined than the steam-powered carriages of the Western Kingdom.

How could this be? It was impossible for Huaguo to have this many firearms and vehicles. Could it be that Huaguo had taught the technology to Daxia, and they had manufactured imitations?

Chen Mu saw the corpses of the savages on the ground and asked Zhang Zhong, “Zhang Zhong, why did you order the killing of these savages?”

Zhang Zhong was somewhat embarrassed. He had intended to force his way in to search for Chen Mu, but seeing Chen Mu’s condition, it was clear he had suffered no hardship and might even have been rescued by the savages.

“Reporting to Your Highness, we arrived here and discovered signs of human habitation. We wanted to ask if they had seen you, but there was a language barrier, and the savages attacked first.”

Chen Mu frowned. “But they were unarmed; there was no need for you to kill them, was there?”

Zhang Zhong explained, “This… well, we only have our firearms. If we had tried to respond with fists, we would have been at a disadvantage.”

Chen Mu said helplessly, “Very well. I have already pacified the savages, and they will not attack again. In the future, be careful not to harm the local people easily; we are only here to gather resources.”

Zhang Zhong replied, “Yes. I had assumed they had captured you, but it seems you have been getting along quite well with them.”

Chen Mu said, “Oh, it wouldn't be wrong to say they captured me. To be precise, I was captured by this man here.”

As he spoke, Chen Mu pointed to Lewis. The expressions of the soldiers toward Lewis changed instantly.

Lewis quickly waved his hands and said in the Daxia language, “A misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding. Heh heh…”

Chen Mu laughed. “We can discuss this later. Oh, right, Lewis, go and tell those savages goodbye, and tell them to stay quietly in the mountains and not provoke outsiders.”

“Very well,” Lewis said.

Lewis turned back inside to attend to the matter. A while later, he returned with a large bag on his back and set off on the journey with Chen Mu and the others.

Once he boarded the vehicle, he touched and examined everything, filled with curiosity about the electric crawler vehicle.

“This is not a steam engine. How does it move?”

Chen Mu smiled. “I told you, it is electric.”

Lewis suddenly thought of something. “Could it be… the power of lightning?”

Chen Mu nodded.

Lewis was stunned. He had assumed “electric” was just a new term coined by Daxia, and that in reality, they were just horse-drawn. Because Lewis did not believe the people of Daxia could grasp the concept of electricity. Even in Huaguo and the Western Kingdom, it was merely a theoretical concept; they had not mastered the technology themselves. How could the people of Daxia possibly have achieved it?