Chapter 137: Corpse Dissolution Flower, Myriad Forms Iron
After Li Mu said that, the courier could only force a smile. What could he possibly say? He was just a courier.
“Then I...”
Looking rather embarrassed, the courier pointed behind Li Mu, asking how he was supposed to report back.
“Take a few pictures and bring them back for them to see.”
Li Mu pointed at the things on the floor as he spoke.
“We haven’t finished studying them yet, so we can’t send them back for the time being.”
“Got it!”
The courier immediately stepped forward, snapped several photos, and left to make his report.
Everyone in the room looked at one another.
Liang Huajun had probably just been curious about what kind of stunt Li Mu had pulled. He most likely had never intended to take Li Mu’s spoils.
But Li Mu had told the courier to bring back photos as a reply.
Liang Huajun would probably be furious when he saw them.
He could at least have brought back a few samples.
The boy was stingy to the extreme.
It made it look as though someone was trying to snatch his spoils of war.
As soon as the courier left, Li Mu immediately urged everyone to get studying.
They all understood his good intentions.
The sooner they researched these things, the sooner they could figure out which ones the camp could use and put them to use right away.
Resources they could not use would have to be handed over to the military district or the Research Institute for development sooner or later.
Turning them in would indeed earn Military Merit.
But using them right now meant real gains in strength, gains that could save the soldiers’ lives.
There were not many leaders like Li Mu, leaders who genuinely fought to secure benefits for their own subordinates.
Plenty of commanders sacrificed the lives and futures of their soldiers for nothing but their own personal merit and interests.
That was exactly why officers differed in prestige within the army.
The soldiers were not fools.
They knew who treated them well, and whose backbone was truly strong. That was who they respected.
Among the officers, Li Mu might look like nothing more than a young greenhorn.
But if he kept walking this road, it would be difficult, very difficult, yet it would also be solid every step of the way.
“This red liquid you mentioned... you say it was ground from flowers that grew on a black ancient tree?”
One of the elderly men from the Research Institute asked Li Mu.
“Yes,” Li Mu replied with a nod.
Several of the old men immediately exchanged glances before speaking uncertainly.
“We have actually seen this kind of tree before.”
“It matched your description. A single tree, surrounded by a swamp, capable of devouring the corpses of monsters or humans.”
“It is called a Corpse Dissolution Tree.”
“And the flowers it grows are called Corpse Dissolution Flowers.”
“It’s just that the tree we saw was grayish white, and the flowers it produced were multicolored.”
“But a black tree like this, with pure crimson Corpse Dissolution Flowers, we truly have never seen before.”
Li Mu’s eyes lit up. Any clue at all was enough.
“Then what do Corpse Dissolution Flowers do?”
“Mutation.”
“After the flower liquid of a Corpse Dissolution Flower is diluted and consumed, it can cause the human body to undergo a strengthening mutation.”
“It may affect the bones, the blood, or the muscles.”
“It pushes the human body closer to the kind of powerful physique possessed by monsters.”
“The effect is extremely strong!”
“Unfortunately, they all come with certain side effects that are very harmful to the human body.”
The old men all shook their heads repeatedly.
“What kind of side effects?” Li Mu asked.
“Physical deformation, or the consumption of life force. In other words, the user will not live long.”
Li Mu felt a little disappointed after hearing that, but he still put away the red liquid. He planned to find a chance to test its effects and see exactly what the side effects were before deciding what to do next.
After that, everyone continued examining the other items.
They were all good things.
Their monetary value was impossible to estimate.
But there were not many that the camp’s soldiers could use directly.
At most, they could be taken back to the military district to be processed into Spirit Treasures and weapons, then sent back again.
However, one elderly man was extremely interested in the smallest piece of metal.
He pointed at it excitedly.
“This is...”
“Hiss! This is Myriad Forms Iron??”
As soon as they heard the words Myriad Forms Iron, the other old men crowded over as well, their eyes shining.
Li Mu was curious too.
“What is Myriad Forms Iron?”
The old man stretched out his hand and covered the Myriad Forms Iron directly.
A dense wave of True Qi wrapped around it from his palm.
And then, right there on the table, the tiny piece of metal began to move, changing shape freely!
A sphere, a cube, a strip, and it could even slowly take the form of a blade or sword.
It could also become smaller!
As the old man toyed with the Myriad Forms Iron, he explained with a smile, “It really is! It truly is!”
“This Myriad Forms Iron is an extremely tough metal with the ability to change shape freely.”
“It is exceedingly rare!”
“Not only can it transform at will, it also possesses extraordinary compatibility.”
“It can devour and assimilate a certain amount of powerful metal. Of course, the more it assimilates, the easier it becomes for it to lose its original properties.”
“But that also means it almost has no upper limit!”
“As long as the metal it devours is strong enough, Myriad Forms Iron itself will become stronger as well.”
“And while it cannot grow larger, it can compress its mass and become smaller.”
“Often, only Rare-Grade Weapons and above can be made with even a tiny bit of this Myriad Forms Iron, in order to increase their flexibility.”
“A piece this large could be used to forge at least ten Rare-Grade Weapons!”
“Uh... Commander, what’s wrong with you?”
Li Mu suddenly snapped back to himself, wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, and nodded.
“Good stuff...”
In the old man’s eyes, this Myriad Forms Iron was a material for forging weapons.
But in Li Mu’s eyes, it was already a weapon in itself...Why would he need forging when he used a cudgel?
And besides, he had wanted a saber before. Now that he had this thing, switching between a cudgel and a blade would be no more than a thought.
The only problem was that there was just this tiny little piece!
Who was that enough for?
Li Mu immediately made up his mind. Later, he absolutely had to find out where exactly the Divine Elephant Nation camp had gotten this Myriad Forms Iron.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Elephant Nation, at the Balibali Military District, the enormous military district was at least twice the size of the Pearl Military District, like a small city in itself.
All the proper buildings were concentrated at the very center.
The farther out one went, the simpler the buildings became, until at the outermost edge, they could even be described as crude.
Civilian homes built from brick, tile, and colored steel sheets stood there, with barefoot commoners moving in and out of them. Their clothes were worn out, and most of them were sallow-faced and emaciated.
They carried all kinds of food, drink, and everyday items on their shoulders or on their heads, entering the markets, passing through the noisy middle district that resembled a bazaar, or walking past the training grounds of the Divine Elephant Nation soldiers, before merging into the hundreds of workers laboring at the construction site of the great military district camp.
Those workers were laying enormous white stone steps along the outer layer of the camp.
Further up beyond the steps, at the very end, people were carving gigantic Divine Elephant statues.
And behind those statues stood the luxurious, magnificent, glittering military headquarters, as splendid as an imperial palace.
The headquarters formed a massive ring, perfectly encircling the Abyss entrance.
At this moment, a small airship with gold-trimmed edges slowly descended into the Abyss entrance.
On an open-air platform atop the military headquarters, a group of “nobles,” dressed in extravagant clothing and adorned from head to toe with jewelry, stood there smiling as they waited for the airship to land.
After the airship came down, a man dressed as a servant hurried forward, dropped theatrically to his knees before the door, and pulled it open with both hands and an expression of utmost reverence.
Then several people slowly disembarked from the airship.
The one in front had two thin mustaches and a pair of ratlike eyes. The moment he stepped off, his gaze locked onto several beautiful “noblewomen” of the Divine Elephant Nation.
One noble officer smiled and extended his hand.
“Welcome, Mr. Kurozawa Ranzi.”
The mustached man known as Kurozawa Ranzi withdrew his gaze, smiled faintly, and shook the officer’s hand.
Speaking in somewhat clumsy Divine Elephant language, he said, “General Kapil, it really has been a very long time since we last met.”
The noble officer warmly clasped his hand.
“This time, I invited you here in the hope that we can achieve a mutually beneficial result.”
Kurozawa Ranzi’s smile remained lukewarm.
“Rest assured. As long as it is something that can be done, I will certainly do my best.”
“The Divine Elephant Nation and the Little Sakura Nation are good friends who help each other!”