Chapter 885: Yang Ze's Injury

"I'll leave you to deal with the logistics, then. With regards to manpower, talk to Chen Fan and have him send you a few human hunters," Zhang Lie suggested.

Yun Bing replied, "There's no rush. I'd rather wait until the hunters from the kingdom of Limit in the second realm ascend—they're people I've worked with and am more comfortable with."

It wasn't that Yun Bing distrusted the hunters of the third realm. Rather, she had just ascended, and understood very little of the logistics currently in place. It wouldn't make sense for her to take over right away given her limited understanding; she would have to learn and analyze what the troops were already doing.

Furthermore, because Yun Bing had just ascended, she wasn't strong enough that these veterans would listen to her commands unconditionally. She had the ability to make them all listen to her, of course, and she had demonstrated that ability in the second realm, but she didn't think it was the appropriate time herself.

"As you will. If there's anything you can't resolve on your own, let me know and I can help."

Zhang Lie turned to the party. "Let me show you around the draconian world. This is where you'll be living for a long while, so it'll be good to get a sense for everything."

Zhang Lie waved a hand, shattering space and whisking everyone away.

The next moment, they appeared in a desert where the ground was black glass. Zhang Lie introduced, "This is the black desert of the draconian world, which originated from a world that Fang Yi conquered."

Zhang Hanxiang glanced all around her. "A black desert? Why isn't there any black sand, then?"

Zhang Lie coughed awkwardly. "For certain reasons, all the black sand has vanished from the area. Because this world of black sand had been drained of its energy by the black spirits, the will of the world was dramatically weakened. This land no longer has the ability to support any life."

Zhang Lie naturally had no intention to explain that subsequent damage to the land had been because he had absorbed his last few disaster gene fragments here.

Zhang Hanxiang stepped on the glass-like ground experimentally. "Of course no lifeforms would want to live on this sort of black glass."

With another wave of Zhang Lie's hand, space shattered once more. He brought everyone to a second patch of land, a huge forest.

"This forest was taken down by Yang Ze. Within it live two races, the indigenous bearmen and the transplanted mammoths. The mammoths moved over from a territory that Li Feng gained control over. Because the mammoths are outsiders, the bearmen find them very unwelcome, and they're frequently enmeshed in conflict."

As Zhang Lie spoke, cries and shouts came from deep within the forest before them. Mud, dust, rubble, and trees were sent flying into the air as the mammoths' trumpeting cries and bears' howls announced their presence.

"The draconian sage thinks that it's good for the two races to fight and exhaust their resources against each other, which would be beneficial for draconian rule. Furthermore, since the mammoths once betrayed the humans and draconians, the draconian sage wants to make life more difficult for them."

With another wave of his hand, Zhang Lie brought the party to the third location, a barren desert.

"This is a desert which used to be populated by greenskins, and which Sun Xiaowu conquered. Because two-thirds of the greenskins have been sent to the battlefield, however, there are far fewer greenskins left here."

The members of Team Zenith had taken down each world, but the responsibility for making sure that these inhabitants obeyed the draconians fell to the draconians' own forces.

Zhang Lie brought the party to a fourth location.

"This is a tundra that Li Feng invaded, and large quantities of ice-attuned genetic lifeforms live here.

It was part of the land that the mammoths used to live in, but because of how harrowing the living conditions are, the mammoths wanted to move elsewhere. Only a few members of their clan still remain in the snowy valleys within."

Yun Bing asked, "Are they unwilling to move?"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "You underestimate the aliens. An elder proposed that some remain behind; they don't trust us draconians and humans fully."

Yun Bing understood. "Not putting all their eggs in one basket, then?"

"Exactly so."

The fifth location was a forest, but a far smaller one compared to the ancient forest in which the bearmen lived.

"Zhou Ying conquered this world, which was once a fetid swamp. She terraformed the land and turned it into a patch of verdant forest. Subsequently, because we had to search for the proof of kingship that the king left behind, we had to dig up almost the entire forest. Afterwards, Zhou Ying planted some more trees down, and that's where we are now."

The sixth region was a charred, scorched land.

"Sun Mengmeng took down this world, which was also once a forest. After a heated battle, the forest burned down entirely."

The seventh region was one final forest, containing black Chinese parasol trees.

Zhang Lie gave the newcomers an extended tour before depositing them all in the draconian city. Zhang Hanxiang, Yun Bing, and Chu Feng scattered to take in the sights, but Zhang Lie called the Yeluo chieftain back.

"Chieftain, don't go yet. I want to introduce you to the draconian sage and have him arrange a research laboratory for you. This is the heart of the draconian territory, and there are many herbs specific to the third realm that can be found here. It should be a good start to your research, and I'll also assign you some manpower to help you collect more."

The Yeluo chieftain nodded. "As you will, your majesty!"

Zhang Lie brought the Yeluo chieftain to see the draconian sage, only to be surprised when the draconian sage was also looking for him. "Good timing. I have some news for you."

"Did something happen?" Zhang Lie asked.

"Yang Ze's back, but he's heavily injured—battle wounds, he said."

"I'll go see him immediately." Zhang Lie rushed off in search of Yang Ze, whom the draconian sage had sent to a nearby infirmary.

When Zhang Lie found him, he was swaddled in bandages. Yang Ze chuckled ruefully. "Sorry to disappoint you, Captain."

"No, none of that! How badly hurt are you? Have you had any medication yet?"

"I've consumed some of the Yeluo restoratives from the second realm. I'm not too badly injured, and I should be able to get back to normal in a few days. It's just that I allowed the king of the realm to run off..."

Although Yang Ze was hurt, his opponent didn't fare much better, either.

Zhang Lie relaxed after hearing that Yang Ze had suffered no lasting injuries.

"There's no need for you to worry about your opponent now. The Yeluo chieftain has just ascended to the third realm, and it's likely that he's developed better potions by now."

Yang Ze's eyes widened. "The Yeluo chieftain has ascended?!"