Castle of Black Iron
Castle of Black Iron - Chapter 40: Plot and Rat Poison

Zhang Tie didn’t know what had happened in the classroom after he left, as he had already walked out of the gate of the Seventh National Middle School by then.

Life was sometimes unfortunate like this:. While you’re sitting under a tree in a daze, someone suddenly throws some messy plates in front of you. As a result, you have to make a choice — being an unpaid dishwasher or being beaten to death.

F*ck! The one-eyed man’s words were correct: “When faced with someone, if you refuse their request, then they would feel like you insulted them.” Even now, I will insult you. Let’s see whether you dare to bite me or not!

The moment he went out of the school gate, Zhang Tie coincidentally encountered the one-eyed man. Naturally, as it seemed like the two had to walk on the same road for a while, he couldn’t just pretend to not have seen him and pass him.

“Captain Kerlin, are you going to the fighting club?” Zhang Tie took the initiative and greeted him, as it was not a secret that Captain Kerlin was a part-time coach in the Iron Thorns Fighting Club.

Captain Kerlin knew that Zhang Tie performed well yesterday in the Fighting Club, thus he felt that Zhang Tie was manly enough as his impression of him has begun to improve. He felt like he had made the right decision. “Yea, I’m heading to the fighting club. I heard that you have another part-time job at the grocery store?”

Captain Kerlin didn’t have an inkling that Zhang Tie was that “hero” nor was he interested. For Captain Kerlin, he believed that everyone should take care of themselves. Even now when the “hero” dared to stir up trouble with Glaze’s group, he should be brave and face it. Besides, there were so many students at school and Captain Kerlin was not their babysitter.

Zhang Tie knew the temperament of the one-eyed man; therefore, he didn’t mention what had happened at noon. Instead, he talked about something else with Captain Kerlin.

“Yea, it was introduced to me by my family. I’ve already worked there for a long time!”

“How do you feel about working over there?”

“The boss is kind, and I can learn a lot…”

They kept talking and walking in this manner…

When they were far away, Glaze’s group appeared from behind a tree close to the school gate dejectedly. Seeing the backs of Zhang Tie and Captain Kerlin, they gritted their teeth.

“What the f*ck! That guy is walking really close with the one-eyed man. It seems that they are very close!” Sharon said dejectedly. Zhang Tie grabbed Glaze’s opportunity to perform in front of Miss Daina, so Glaze wanted to take revenge on him. This explains what had happened at noon. In Glaze’s mind, he should be the only star in Seventh National Middle School. This was the most critical stage that determined his future, and nobody else should be able to match him. Naturally, he thought it would be easy to bully someone weaker than him. They never thought that Zhang Tie would refuse, resulting in them suffering the darkest afternoon of their lives.

Hearing what Sharon said, everybody frowned. At the same time, from the fresh whip wounds on their backs came a sharp pain that was similar to rubbing salt in a wound, reminding them of the insults they had suffered.

“If we deal with this guy, Captain Kerlin would definitely help him. He probably refused to listen to our orders at noon because he found someone to rely on — Captain Kerlin. We’ll have to plan it well before setting him up!” Garner complained loudly.

“Once he leaves school, Captain Kerlin would not find any evidence. We would have more than enough time to deal with him, humph… humph…” Zuhair sneered.

“What’s your plan?” Sharon asked Zuhair.

Zuhair looked around. The others instantly felt that the plan must be terrifying. Thus, they moved back behind the tree and listened to Zuhair’s plan.

“If we do this, the result would be hard to control!” Zuhair looked at Glaze and waited for his final decision.

“Won’t… this be… somewhat excessive? I just want to fiercely beat him. After all, we are… classmates… and this plan might kill him!” Garner, who was obviously startled by Zuhair’s scheme, staggered.

“What’s wrong? Garner, you wanna back out?” Sharon stared at him coldly. “Have the wounds on your back recovered so soon?

“Garner, you are still naïve. ‘Classmate’ is worth nothing in this age!” Zuhair sneered.

“I… I… I mean…” Before Garner finished explaining, his neck had already been tightly gripped by one of Glaze’s hand. The huge physical difference between Glaze, a LV 2 fighter, and a common student was obvious. Garner’s feet were already in the air as his face gradually turned red, slowly showing a miserable expression.

“What’s there to explain?” Glaze sneered. Garner found it increasingly difficult to breathe as he struggled while desperately waving his hands. Glaze then loosened his hand, resulting in Garner kneeling on the ground as he coughed heavily.

“So we’ve made the final decision. He will have few days to show off. During the surviving training, I will give him a lesson he’ll never forget…” Glaze showed a terrifying and cruel expression. The three people by him showed obscene smiles, either sincerely or reluctantly.

So what if the result was uncontrollable? Worst case scenario, a death of a black-haired kid that nobody would care about. Deaths happened every day in Blackhot City.

Zhang Tie usually called them horny students at school because he felt that everybody his age in the Seventh National Middle School were like rutting calves; however, he never thought that there were true emotionless horny students like them.

……

When Zhang Tie entered the grocery store, he found Donder busily greeting three guests at the same time. At the sight of Zhang Tie, Donder obviously heaved a sigh of relief…

“Show them our ‘powerful rat poison’…” Donder said to Zhang Tie...

Several minutes later, the three guests left. Donder then counted the gold coins with a big smile.

Zhang Tie realized that the number of magistrates and soldiers on patrol neighboring the railway station has increased since the message concerning the Red-Scarf Burglars spread. Despite the news being spread, Donder’s grocery store has had more guests than before — at least 20 percent more than before. Various goods, even goods used to do bad deeds, sold well. Among the bestsellers, the ‘powerful rat poison’ had the highest sales volume. It was said that the ‘powerful rat poison’ was a raw material of the most terrifying weapon. Before the Catastrophe, anybody who was close to it would endanger their lives, even if it was just within the same room. His teachers said that it was called “radioactive substance” before the Catastrophe. It was the Catastrophe and the mysterious particle carried by the Star of God that let the “radioactive substances’ lose their radioactive energy and made its basic properties change. As a result, they could no longer be used to produce the most terrifying weapons; however, its toxic property was preserved. Prior to the Catastrophe, it required people to adopt extremely sophisticated means to extract the substance, but after the Catastrophe, many people found the substance among the ores underground due to large geographic movements. The natural, virulent mineral ore was called “Monster’s Store” and was extremely toxic after being ground into powder. In the history of the Blackson Human Clan Corridor, this “rat poison” was used by evil organizations to instigate malicious events that led to almost ten thousand wounded or deaths. Therefore, among the official regulations in the Blackhot City, this substance was specially regulated. In fact, for professional adventurers and pioneers who were striving to explore the land and find new places for humans to live, this substance was sharp weapon against low-level magical beasts and monsters. By putting just a bit of “rat poison” on their simple bait, it was possible to send several magical beasts to their deaths. After being simply extracted, the poison could be smeared onto weapons, making them more powerful. That was why the substance could never be completely forbidden. Although it was forbidden to sell in ordinary stores, the government of Blackhot City just kept one eye closed on it, as they could not completely forbid it.

People named it as “rat poison” so that it could be properly advertised in public. Naturally, it could be found in a grocery neighboring the railway station where passengers from all walks of life passed. Donder sold both the real “rat poison” and the so-called “rat poison” that could not only kill those rats at home but also kill those large, terrifying mutated rats outside the gates of the city. This substance was colorless and tasteless. Without using special means or reaching at least LV 10, a level where one would develop very sharp senses and would be able to use spiritual observation, no man or magical beast would be able to notice it. That’s how terrifying this powerful “rat poison” was.

Ever since the curfew in Blackhot City had been imposed in hopes to protect its residents from the Red-Scarf Burglars, the sales as well as the price of the “powerful rat poison” in Donder’s grocery store had increased from selling 5 to 6 vials per month at 75 silver per vial to more than 3 or 5 vials per day at 1 gold per vial. Most of the buyers were commoners. Thinking of what had happened at school today and the potential revenge, Zhang Tie became dejected…