"Augustus, is this the dinsional gate you were talking about?" Captain Niles asked with a smile, pointing at the statue.
"Hmm," Augustus replied, his voice disinterested as his eyes remained fixated on the statue.
Despite the lackluster response, the smile on Captain Niles' face didn't falter. He knew better than to show any displeasure; after all, the young man beside him was soone of great importance, soone he couldn't afford to offend.
"Please wait a mont while I open the Dinsional Gate," Captain Niles said, descending towards the statue.
Ashford Augustus stayed floating in the air, his dark blue eyes scanning the surroundings with a detached interest. The crowd below watched with bated breath.
"Look, the captain is finally going to open the gate."
"Damn, that's what I was talking about. Now I can finally change my life."
The crowd buzzed with excitent as Captain Niles gently tapped on the statue. In response, a huge semi-circle ring appeared in front of it, rotating silently.
"All right, the gate is active," Captain Niles announced. "As usual, leave a strand of your consciousness outside, and only forty people at a ti are allowed to go in."
With those words, a few n dressed in black robes appeared beside the portal and began organizing the crowd.
Captain Niles quickly took to the air and rejoined Augustus. "Are you coming with us, or will you wait here?" he asked the blonde-haired youth.
Augustus shook his head, signaling that he would stay behind. Though Captain Niles wanted to entertain Augustus more, his duties as a captain demanded his attention elsewhere. With a streak of light, he disappeared, leaving Augustus floating silently above.
anwhile, on the ground, a bearded man stepped forward and loudly commanded, "Silence!" His voice, like thunder in a clear sky, instantly quieted the crowd.
"I will not repeat myself, so listen closely. Form a line of forty people and enter the Gate one by one."
The crowd quickly obeyed, forming lines, with the rest waiting for their turn. From past experiences, they knew better than to cross the military.
David, however, paid little attention to the unfolding events. He was still negotiating with Jin, only glancing at the sky when Captain Niles and Augustus had first appeared.
"Only 100,000 spirit stones? Are you sure you don't want more? It's not every day that you get credit at such a low interest rate," David encouraged Jin, raising his eyebrows.
Jin nodded, black lines of frustration forming on his forehead. Despite the high interest rate of 2 percent per month—24 percent annually—David had the audacity to call it low with a straight face. Jin knew the implications; cultivators typically took loans for long periods, often a hundred years, during which the interest could beco astronomical.
Yet, he still agreed and signed the spiritual agreent.
David happily handed him the spirit stones, a broad smile on his face. Inwardly, David prayed for Jin's early demise, knowing it would only increase his profits.
While David was occupied with Jin, the first group of forty people entered the Dinsional Gate. The bearded man stroked his beard, watching the forty glowing orbs on the board in front of him.
"How many of them will survive?" he wondered silently.
Minutes passed, and ten of the orbs dimd, signifying the deaths of ten individuals.
"Not bad, only ten died. Not bad indeed," the bearded man praised, his voice filled with genuine relief. It was better than expected, especially since these weren't disciplined military personnel but ordinary cultivators.
But his relief was premature. Over the next hour, ten more orbs dimd. The bearded man's expression grew grim as only twenty orbs remained. Another hour passed, and fifteen more orbs dimd, leaving just five glowing brightly. The brutal reality was clear—only five had survived out of forty.
The crowd watched the board in disbelief. "Shhh! Only five survived. Too dangerous! Mummy, I'm coming back ho," soone muttered, deciding to give up and leave.
"Tch! What a wimp! Didn't he know that this dinsional gate was used exclusively by the military for a reason?"
However, not everyone had the luxury of leaving. For many, this was a do-or-die situation. They were willing to risk their lives for a chance to change their fate.
The ring began to fluctuate, and the survivors started to return, one by one. Contrary to everyone's expectations, not a single person was visibly wounded. Yet, their faces were pale and shrunken, as if their vitality had been drained.
"If only I had more spirit stones, my sister wouldn't have to die," one slightly better-off man muttered under his breath.
The crowd's eyes glead at his words, guessing that spirit stones were the key to surviving the Dinsional Gate.
"Yeah, really? You need spirit stones? Co to ; I'll give you spirit stones," David thought, eyeing the crowd. This was a golden opportunity to make a killing.
The bearded man was the first to approach the survivors, with dics following closely behind. "Take care of everyone. Not a single one of them should die," he ordered coldly.
At his command, the dics rushed forward, feeding the survivors a strange white pill to restore their vitality.
The pill started to show its effect instantly, color started to return to their faces and so were even able to stand up.
Those who were able to get up bowed in the direction of bearded n with gratitude.
"There is no need to thank , i was just doing my duty. If you want to thank soone, thank the Emperor Damien Rising Sun for his magnanimity."
The bearded man expertly shifted the credit of his work on the Emperor head and looked at the five people once again, this ti with a slightly softer gaze.
"I can see the potential in all of you, if you want, you can join the Rising Sun military and soar to new heights." The man offered in an enticing tone.
After hearing the bearded man words contemplative expression appeared on their faces.
Considering their situation a mont ago and how the soldiers helped them even though they didn't have to, speaked volu about their attitudes.
Two of them instantly nodded their head while the other three were still busy thinking.
In the end, they too couldn't resist the temptation and decided to join the military.
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