Atlas returned to Silver Lotus like a king. Or, at least, he thought he did.
He stepped out of the carriage with exaggerated flair, throwing his arms out wide as if greeting a cheering crowd.
"Ah, home at last! Fear not, for your saviour has returned!"
Layla, walking behind him, physically cringed at him. "Please stop."
Atlas ignored her, basking in the imaginary applause in his head—until Kai suddenly appeared, breathless and excited.
"Atlas! I'm ready!" Kai declared.
Before Atlas could process that, Meyu and Lin Wuye were suddenly at Kai's sides, physically restraining him.
"No, no, let's give it more time" Lin Wuye said, his usual calm voice carrying a slight edge of desperation.
"Yeah, we don't need to rush things! Maybe next week! Or next year!" Meyu added, forcing a smile.
Atlas blinked. "Wait… what?" Then, as the gears in his mind turned, realization dawned.
Boy controls boom = Power goes boom = Me see mountain = Mountain shorter than before.
His grin stretched wide—far too wide. The kind of grin that could make even demons rethink their life choices.
Kai, seeing that face, immediately panicked.
BOOM!
Atlas was blasted off his feet, sent soaring into the sky, his triumphant return ruined in the most spectacular way possible.
Layla sighed, facepalming herself "Of course."
Before Atlas could meet the ground, Ying appeared like a shadow, casually catching him mid-air.
"You should stop scaring the boy" Ying said dryly.
Atlas coughed, patting down his now-singed coat. "Noted."
After some emergency tea and clothing adjustments, Atlas called for a meeting. The usual faces were gathered, awaiting his next big revelation.
"Alright, let's get to it" Atlas said, leaning forward with a smirk.
"I have good news. The emperor is sending a convoy of workers to assist us."
The room fell silent.
Lin Wuye narrowed his eyes. "You managed to convince the emperor to send resources? Just like that?"
Meyu crossed her arms. "You're hiding something. What's the catch?"
Atlas waved them off. "No catch! Just a simple, friendly conversation between two civilized men."
Layla, sitting beside him, fought the urge to strangle him.
He left out the part where he threatened the emperor. He also conveniently left out the other part where he betted on Silver Lotus's future.
"Now, since we have an influx of labour, we can speed up trade route development and settlement construction" Atlas moving on before anyone could pry further.
He turned to Ying. "I need you to go to the South Province. Take Jiayi and Gan Xiu, along with thirty workers. Your job is to clear the bandits, secure the roads, and establish a lasting trade route. You have one month. Use any means necessary."
Ying nodded without hesitation. "Understood."
Before anyone could react further, the ground began to tremble.
The heavy thud, thud, thud of marching feet approached.
Meyu's eyes widened. "That sounds like…"
Then, like a stampede of elephants, an army of 1000 workers arrived at the gates.
Atlas clapped his hands together. "Right on time."
Atlas wasted no time. Armed with a blueprint he had drawn up a week ago, he led the massive convoy straight to the trade route site.
He split the 1000 workers into teams, each led by an experienced Ryl Trading worker.
Jan – In charge of material sourcing, ensuring a steady supply of wood and stone reinforcements.
Pong – Overseeing tunnel mapping and directing diggers to maintain structure integrity.
Wei– Handling tool distribution and maintenance, keeping pickaxes, shovels, and explosives in check.
Liu– Organizing food and water supply, making sure workers don't collapse mid-shift.
Chun – Coordinating relay teams to transport excavated material out of the tunnel site.
Fang – Supervising the initial rock-breaking teams, ensuring efficient manual excavation.
Bo – Managing rope and pulley systems for debris removal and lowering heavy support beams.
Tao – Blacksmith liaison, ensuring steady repairs and new tools are forged as needed.
Qiao Feng – Safety officer, making sure no one gets buried alive (or blown up).
Bai Yun – Managing morale, keeping workers motivated and resolving disputes on-site.
Each head nodded, immediately gathering their respective teams and getting to work. The site transformed into an organized chaos of shouting, hammering, and digging. Meyu watched in awe and horror as Atlas commanded the entire workforce like a general leading an army.
"How does his brain work?" she muttered, scribbling down notes.
Finally, Atlas brought Kai to the biggest obstacle—the mountain blocking the optimal trade path.
"We're not going around it" Atlas announced. "We're going through it."
The workers stared at him like he was insane.
One engineer hesitantly spoke up. "Sir, tunnelling through a mountain is… incredibly risky. Without proper reinforcement, the whole thing could collapse!"
Atlas grinned. "Glad you brought that up! We're going to use the New Austrian Tunneling Method."
Meyu paused her note-taking. "The what?"
Atlas, now in his devil mode, launched into an explanation:
"It's an advanced method. It involves excavating in sections, reinforcing with wooden beams and support frames as we go. Instead of blasting the whole thing at once, we'll do it step-by-step, stabilizing the tunnel naturally. That way, it won't collapse, and we can control the structure's integrity."
The skeptical engineer frowned. "But where would we get that many wooden supports?"
Atlas snapped his fingers. "Simple. We'll source timber from the nearby forests. We have 1000 laborers—we can afford to have a few teams chopping and processing wood while the rest excavate. It's all about logistics."
Another engineer raised a hand. "And the explosions? Won't they weaken the mountain's stability?"
Atlas turned to Kai, grinning. "That's why we have precision explosives."
Kai blinked. "That's… me, isn't it?"
"Exactly! You'll handle controlled blasts at strategic points to loosen rock formations. With your Qi control, you can make small, controlled detonations without unnecessary destruction."
Kai suddenly felt very nervous.
One of the senior engineers, still skeptical, crossed his arms. "And what if this 'New Austrian Method of yours fails?' What if the tunnel collapses halfway through?"
Atlas, without missing a beat, flashed his most dazzling, devil smile.
"Then we do what humans have done throughout history—we panic and improvise."
Silence.
Then, begrudgingly, the engineers sighed and accepted their fates.
Meyu, shaking her head, scribbled the final note:
Atlas somehow won them over with nonsense and confidence. Again.
With the workforce now fully mobilized, the tunnel excavation of Silver Lotus officially began.
Yet, as Atlas watched the workers prepare, a cold weight settled in his chest.
This has to work.
He wasn't afraid of failure—failure was expected in any grand endeavor—but what terrified him was the cost of failure.
If the mountain plan collapsed, we have to carve out another path, permanently scarring the land. Worse, people could get injured—or worse, Kai could get injured.
Atlas exhaled sharply, shaking off the thoughts.
Think, dammit.
Before Kai could start his explosions, Atlas grabbed another paper and quill, kneeling down to sketch precise measurements.
"Hold off for a second" he ordered, voice unusually firm.
Kai, mid-preparation, blinked. "Huh?"
Atlas's hand moved swiftly, outlining the exact dimensions of the first hole—the main entry point. He calculated its width, depth, and the exact reinforcement needed every few meters to prevent unnecessary cave-ins. Each stroke of ink on the parchment was another safeguard against potential disaster.
Meyu, peeking over his shoulder, raised a brow. "You're—actually thinking ahead for once. I'm shocked."
Atlas didn't look up. "If I screw this up, we either lose part of what makes this place beautiful or we get people killed. Neither is an option."
For once, there was no bravado in his voice just a man determined to make sure his gamble wouldn't get anyone hurt.
Atlas wiped sweat from his brow, then turned to Kai. "Alright. Now we start."
Kai cracked his knuckles. "Where do you want it?"
Atlas pointed to the marked center of the mountain wall.
"Here. This is the first blast point. Not too strong, just enough to open a passage."
Kai took a deep breath, gathering Qi in his palms, golden energy swirling around his fingertips. Atlas and Meyu both grabbed pickaxes, stepping back cautiously.
Meyu sighed. "I can't believe we're helping dig a hole while a human bomb stands next to us."
Atlas grinned. "Hey, teamwork makes the dream work. Now, Kai—make us a door."
Kai nodded and released a precise blast, sending a controlled boom through the rock. Dust and debris scattered, revealing a fresh hole in the mountain's surface.
"Good! Keep it steady like that" Atlas called out.
As Kai continued, the tunnel excavation progressed at an impressive pace. Each explosion was followed by a relay of diggers, workers shovelling loose stone, and relay teams carting debris away under Chun's coordination.
Pong mapped out new paths based on the fractures formed by the explosions, adjusting excavation points accordingly, while Fang and his rock-breakers followed behind Kai, chiselling through what remained.
By nightfall, the tunnel was already 20% complete.
Meyu, covered in dust, leaned against her pickaxe. "Okay... I'll admit it. This is going faster than I thought."
Atlas wiped his forehead with a grin. "That's because we have a great system. And me. Mostly me."
Meyu rolled her eyes. "Kai, blast him next."
Kai, exhausted, simply waved her off. "Too tired... maybe tomorrow."
As they trudged back to the settlement, Atlas took a moment to observe the progress around him. Despite the chaos of the tunnel, the Ryl Trading workers were making strides in constructing the settlement. Tents were going up, supplies were being organized, and the layout of what would soon be a thriving trade hub was starting to take shape.
Atlas smirked. "Alright, I'll pay overtime. Just help set up tents for, oh… about 1000 people. Shouldn't be too hard, right? That's just... 5 people per tent. which is 200 tents. Oops."
Meyu groaned. "You're lucky they like money more than they hate you."
While Atlas was busy expanding tunnels, Layla was deep in her own plans at Silver Lotus, standing before a massive chalkboard filled with carefully drawn diagrams and contingency strategies.
She tapped the board thoughtfully, going through her three major plans:
Defensive Traps & Rotations: If a raid were to happen suddenly, she had already positioned traps and assigned disciples in rotating night shifts. However, this plan was for large-scale assaults—something beyond just minor bandit attacks.
Imperial Impatience Countermeasures: If the emperor grew impatient and decided to take action, Layla had begun sketching out escape routes and fallback positions. If negotiations failed, she also had counterattack strategies prepared in case they had no choice but to fight back.
The What-If Plan: Layla stared at this part of the board longer than the others.
What if Atlas betrays me?
It wasn't paranoia—it was survival.
She died the same way before.
She wasn't going to be caught off guard. She won't do the same mistake again.
Her fingers lingered on the chalk before she let out a deep sigh.
I hope I'm wrong.
BUT SHE WAS WRONG.
She wasn't wrong for being paranoid, but what she had failed to account for was a sect ready to attack immediately—the Shengong Sect.
An unknown sect, one that specialized in using Qi to disrupt the soul within the body.
Layla was about to learn just how devastating such an ability could be.
For many weeks with Jinhai support through resources, the Shengong Sect had been scouting Silver Lotus. Every passing day, they had watched it grow, and every passing day, they had come to the same conclusion—it had to be stopped.
Now, they were ready. Under the cover of darkness, the Shengong Sect struck.
It began in silence. A lone Silver Lotus disciple on night patrol never got the chance to scream. His body crumpled, lifeless, his soul disrupted before he even understood what was happening.
Within minutes, guards on rotation discovered the body and rushed toward the Grand Hall, shouting warnings.
Chaos erupted. Disciples jolted awake, scrambling for their weapons. The night was no longer peaceful—it was filled with urgent footsteps, panicked shouts, and the unmistakable tension of an imminent battle.
Layla, despite being a brilliant war strategist, had not accounted for an immediate attack. Now, she had no choice but to adapt on the fly.
39 Silver Lotus members, 60 Ryl Trading workers, and 88 new recruits stood between the sect and 400 enemies.
The 1000 laborers from the emperor? Irrelevant. They were bystanders, untrained, unaligned, and too fresh to throw into war.
This was a battle Silver Lotus had to survive on its own. No Daokan to save, No shrouded peaks to help. This was a battle that will forever scar the sect.