Origin Paradise!

There are bound to be quite a few entities interested in becoming a hegemon.

Bart felt immense pressure. He couldn't even tell if the other party had arrived yet. His initial identity on the battlefield was flawless within his rank.

……

Core prison.

He Xiaoqi collapsed and fainted.

Since someone, at the peak of Silver rank, brutally beat up a Gold elite, everyone present understood that this guy must have chosen to hide his strength as a high-ranking Gold, since such an absurd leap eliminated other possibilities.

Everyone stepped back, which, although not very meaningful, showed their willingness to give way.

Jiang He put on the shackles and sat down on the middle bed. The female major next to him immediately leaned against him, but was kicked into a corner. The selection criteria for the Qingdu Palace were extremely strict, and he was not a casual person.

There was a sound of footsteps.

Because of the commotion in the prison, two guards came over to check; this is standard procedure at the Infernal Fortress.

The female major suddenly shouted sharply, "This newcomer is deliberately causing trouble! He's not an Imperial Lieutenant at all; he definitely has ulterior motives!"

He Xiaoqi's defeat did not affect his elite strength; the colonel's authority remained. However, as an appendage, the young major had offended too many people by being arrogant and spoiled.

The situation was changing, and she was willing to withstand the pressure from someone who was right next to her to get rid of him, otherwise the backlash would only cause her unbearable pain.

The prisoners had various expressions. In any case, this female major, as an imperial officer, was at least decisive and had a competent judgment of the situation.

Unfortunately, the two guards simply stood still, their eyes lifeless, and red spots caused by blood flies were visible on their skin beneath their clothes.

It was only a moment; the patrol time was over.

The two guards turned and left, leaving the female major in the prison cell with a look of panic on her face.

Are you two blind?!

"Come back quickly, I want to change cells!"

"I want to report this to the administrator!"

Jiang He remained calm, sitting on the bed without getting up. He simply asked, "In the Infernal Fortress, is there a penalty for killing prisoners?"

The ordinary gold-plated officer who had previously persuaded He Xiaoqi stood up. He looked to be around thirty years old, strong and vigorous. He went behind the female major, put his arms around her neck, and replied:

"The Thorn Family considers the prisoners here to be the private property of the Duke of Merrick, and therefore prohibits killing each other. Those who violate the killing regulations will be punished or executed depending on the circumstances."

“However, everyone has value. The Golden Laborer’s productivity is outstanding. If I kill her, I estimate that a night of torture will suffice. She doesn’t deserve to die.”

"As for guards and above, they have special privileges."

Hearing about the punishment, many people in the cell shuddered.

The female major died in terror.

As soon as her breath disappeared, it immediately triggered the prison's matrix alarm, and a piercing siren echoed.

In no time, an administrator dressed in noble robes appeared. All the administrators of the Infernal Fortress were earl-level golden bloodline members, and all were relatives of Duke Merrick.

The golden-haired man raised his arms, knelt on both knees, accepting his punishment. He stared intently at someone's shackles and said:

"My name is Si Chuan, a member of the Si family in Cangwu Province."

"Wait for me to come back, I want my freedom!"

The administrator took Si Chuan away; someone else would take responsibility. He didn't care about the truth of the case. Besides, managing prisoners with prisoners was an established strategy, simply because the newly appointed duke's relatives couldn't match the established relatives in terms of strength and background.

Si Chuan disappeared down the corridor.

Nobody seemed to care about talk of "freedom" or anything like that.

In this hellish place called Avici Hell, there are countless insane prisoners who have made outrageous remarks and insults against the Duke of Merrick's family.

As the siren subsided, in the core cells of the East District, everyone had to accept the presence of a certain person.

"Ugh, it's so noisy."

In the corner of the cell, the girl lying in the hay rubbed her forehead and sat up. Her blue and white prison uniform could not hide her youthful yet beautiful curves. She had stunning beauty and long, smooth, bright red hair, and seemed to have demonic blood. However, she was quite disheveled at the moment, and her whole body reeked of fermented vomit.

Upon seeing the girl awaken, all the prisoners displayed a variety of expressions, including hatred, greed, helplessness, and pity.

The girl ran her hands across her face, down to the back of her head, tidying up her disheveled long hair.

Her eyes were hazy with intoxication as she turned her head and looked straight at someone.

"drunkard?"

Jiang He returned the gaze with indifference, only slightly surprised. The other party was a very young golden being. In Gluttony's eyes, the source power around the person naturally gathered, with extremely high efficiency.

There was no answer. The girl shrugged, turned to the side, pulled half a bottle of cheap liquor from the haystack, and drank it all down her throat. Then she tilted her head to the side, lay on her back, and began to snore softly.

Someone tentatively got up, glancing at Jiang He out of the corner of their eye, and cautiously moved towards the girl.

But after only a few steps, He Xiaoqi suddenly woke up. Ignoring his terrible injuries, he leaped out and tackled the opponent. In just a few moves of fighting techniques, the opponent's bones were shattered.

Everyone quickly looked away.

He Xiaoqi turned his head and stared intently at someone, his vigilance extremely strong. However, after a long while, those indifferent eyes remained unmoved, cold as ice.

He Xiaoqi was defeated, and his smile became slightly gloomy. His opponent did not seem to have any weaknesses.

“Brother, this is Yu Jianyue from the Cangwu Yu family, a super genius of the empire. She is safe and sound. Only when we return can we reintegrate into the empire. Without the recognition of a superior family, the mere suspicion of being a spy can ruin the lives of everyone present.”

Jiang He calmly said, "Continue."

The phrase "safe and sound" does not actually include chastity, because in history, being defeated and captured has been automatically considered a loss of this quality, as long as the person eventually returns alive.

He Xiaoqi hesitated for a moment, looked down at his severely injured abdomen, and said helplessly, "Her mother is my blood sister. I was originally the leader of her personal guards to protect her. After the defeat in the winter offensive, we came here together."

Jiang He tossed a pot of ordinary wine over to him.

"His abilities are average, but his loyalty is commendable."

He Xiaoqi didn't actually want to accept the wine. The other party's tone was completely that of a superior, and he keenly sensed that it was an order to obey. However, thinking of his current situation and his niece, a large hand still firmly grasped the wine pot before it hit the ground.

Seeing the two strongest men in the prison shake hands and make peace, some people present had to suppress their ulterior motives. As the saying goes, it's better to fish in troubled waters than to fight each other. This is one of the worst possible outcomes.

Jiang He had a brief conversation with He Xiaoqi, who sat down next to her, and obtained a lot of information.

Within the empire, the right to wage large-scale wars independently is one of the main powers of the superior families. The emperor is the one who issues the rules of etiquette, music, and military campaigns, which shows how precious this power is.

In addition, any member of the Empire who advances to the Gold rank before the age of twenty-four will receive the title of "Super Genius," which comes with numerous benefits.

There are only a dozen or so super geniuses in this generation of the empire. These people have plenty of time and energy to strive for hero status in the next two or three decades. Based on past experience, the success rate is about 50%, and they will all become the backbone of the future.

Of course, this does not mean that non-super geniuses are necessarily excluded from hero-level achievements; it is simply a matter of probability and standards.

With the pot of wine empty, He Xiaoqi's injuries had largely healed. The Originium Shackles had suppressed the Golden Heart, but had not completely sealed it off, and a massive amount of life force could still flow out from within.

Jingle Bell!

A bell rang.

The prisoners all stood up; it was time to become laborers again. It was clearly impossible to live peacefully in prison.

Chapter 446 Alchemy

The Infernal Fortress.

An everlasting darkness enveloped the land, and the laborers in the fortress began their rotation. Millions of people were gradually returned from the construction area to the prison, while others emerged from the buildings, where administrators assigned tasks, which were overseen by tens of thousands of guards.

As Jiang He walked out of the East District Prison, he looked up and saw the blood moon hanging alone in the sky. The hazy, scarlet moonlight shone down. In this world, dawn was merely a deformed product of eternal darkness. Human strongmen were not recognized by the world. The specific reasons were still unknown, but their short lifespans were a real problem.

As the group stepped into the designated construction area, a sense of oppression and gloom washed over them. The fortress's thousand-meter-high walls stood tall, covered in thorns. On the mottled ground, a few withered weeds stubbornly squeezed out of the cracks, swaying in the cold wind.

"Everyone, stay where you are!"

"Those who disobey will be killed."

The Eastern Construction Area, under the jurisdiction of the Eastern District Prison, houses one million prisoners and is staffed by ten administrators and one management team leader, who report directly to the deputy warden.

Given the amount of gold in the core prison, Jiang He keenly realized that his side was a key target of the management's attention.

Not long after, the captain of the management team came over in person. He was old and frail, and his face was deeply lined with wrinkles, showing no trace of his former beauty. This marquis had the strength of a gold elite and was considered an old person even among the vampires. If you count the time she spent sleeping in the blood pool, she was over a thousand years old.

The prisoners jokingly called her "Old Duchess" and even suspected that she was an ancestor of the Duke of Merrick. The newly established fortress was short-handed, and the fact that they had even dug up such an old relic showed that the Duke's family background was indeed worrying.

"Everyone must be implanted with the Thorn Blood Pact."

The old duchess's hands were full of thorns. She picked one out and slowly stabbed it into He Xiaoqi's right eye.

The Thorn Blood Pact is Duke Merrick's ability. Once the blood pactee leaves the fortress without permission, thorns will grow wildly in the body with the help of flesh and soul until the escaped prisoner dies in agony.

Thorns pierced his eyes, and veins bulged on He Xiaoqi's forehead. If this were on the battlefield, this old duchess would at most be his equal.

A moment later, it was Jiang He's turn.

The old duchess glanced around, picked out a thorn and slowly stuck it out, then chuckled softly, "The prisoners in the core cell are all secretly watching you. They are imperial officers, and can be described as unruly. You either have to be stronger than these thugs, or have a powerful background that allows you to disregard the lives of officers, or possess some kind of desire that they desperately need."

"Give me an answer. Before I'm willing to speak properly, I've lived for over a thousand years and I still have some insight."

Jiang He's eyes flickered slightly.

The excruciating pain in his eyes was nothing to worry about, but what surprised him was the old duchess's extraordinary insight.

Behind the opponent is Duke Merrick, a hero-level being who poses an absolutely fatal threat to him, just like Blood Shadow before. If the two of them clash, they could very well be separated by a single move.

Jiang He pondered for a moment. It was impossible for him to compromise in prison, so it was inevitable that he would retaliate against He Xiaoqi's provocation. According to the prison doctor's diagnosis, this could be attributed to paranoid personality disorder.

This raises a question: the fellow inmate who witnessed the confrontation might betray him at some point.

A high-level combatant with a guaranteed gold elite rank, but who usually displays the level of a silver peak, would face the worst possible outcome if thoroughly investigated and the difference in life level and combat power were verified.

In the blink of an eye, all my thoughts subsided.

Jiang He raised his palm, and more than a dozen alchemical matrices, such as the Ouroboros matrix, the Burning City matrix, and the Abyss Gate matrix, changed in turn.

For the first time, the old duchess showed surprise and couldn't help but ask, "A near-master alchemist?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the prisoners all turned to look at him. He Xiaoqi was completely astonished; this was a highly skilled technician.

They can freely create alchemical matrices at will, but they haven't been able to summarize their own unique alchemical methods. Given the difference between an alchemy master and an alchemist, the word "accurate" is used to summarize their abilities.

Jiang He suppressed his urge to complain. The word "accurate" was not important. The key was that he could not reveal his master status because his alchemy method was based on the Devouring Refinement Method of Gluttony Power. Gluttony unified all the extraordinary and destroyed the extraordinary factors of the Source Stone Shackles and the Thorn Blood Pact with ease, which would easily arouse vigilance.

The old duchess no longer cared how this guy became the prison chief. Instead, she pointed to the simple frame of the giant watchtower not far away and said, "The original engineer of that watchtower was killed. You are in charge of its construction."

Jiang He said, "I need manpower, and as you said, these officers are unruly, so I must at least have the power to execute a few individuals, otherwise there will probably be quite a few people secretly undermining me."

A moment of silence.

The old duchess pulled a thorny token from under her worn sleeve, tossed it to the other person, and said, "As the head guard, you can execute fewer than a hundred prisoners a day, conscript around ten thousand people, and appoint a maximum of twenty guards. In a month, I don't want to see the blockhouse still in its current state."

Jiang He nodded. Due to the mission, he would definitely have to run away, but he would have to find an opportunity. If he broke out of prison directly, his fate would probably be no different from that of Xue Ying.

[Hint: Main quest ① has been released]

[Mission Requirement: Return to Cangwu Province]

[Task Time Limit: 30 calendar days]

[Quest Rewards: Undying-level Skill Enhancement Scroll *1 / 10000 Experience Points and Game Currency]

[Failure penalty: None]

……

Morning time.

Jiang He led the prisoners to the frame of the pillbox.

He granted the five Gold-ranked members and the elite He Xiaoqi the status of guards, with corresponding badges on their Thorn Tokens. In addition, there are three more spots to be filled through election.

The entire project team adopted a "three-shift, six-group" system, with three shifts rotating. It was divided into foundation group, wall group, machinery group, and mobile group, etc. Tools were standardized, and the weight of the tamping hammer, the track gauge of the stone transport vehicle, and the spacing of the scaffold crossbars were uniformly adjusted.

Jiang He was not trained in alchemical engineering and had no experience in commanding construction. He built his alchemical tower entirely on his own, but he had served as a legion commander.

Under the vertically penetrating command system, he adopted a dual-track system of military orders and work orders, establishing a wartime command chain with the guard at the apex of power.

The system then utilizes the Beshwu classification system and a three-color flag for real-time control: red flag – work stoppage and risk avoidance, yellow flag – material replenishment, and blue flag – accelerated construction. Finally, it is supplemented by closed-loop quality inspection and dynamic risk management.

Because they have the power of execution, it is not difficult to establish a mature and effective management system.

As the pillboxes became the territory of human prisoners, recruitment became quite easy, and many human laborers came to seek refuge to avoid being harassed by prisoners of other dark races.

In the afternoon, in the makeshift alchemy workshop outside the watchtower.

Jiang He designed a special refining matrix based on the characteristics of Originium, and the compressor assembled from it can greatly reduce the production time of building materials.