Chapter 3: Can You Guess Who Wants to Kill You?

At this moment, in a low-lying area outside the Three Arches Bridge, even though several kilometers separated them, Zhang Zuolin could still feel the thunderous explosions from the direction of the bridge. The ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had torn through the earth.

A burning head suddenly fell from the sky, landing right beside Zhang Zuolin. He looked closely and realized, to his horror, that it belonged to his trusted sixth concubine. From this distance, Zhang could even smell the scent of roasted human flesh.

Confronted by this mysterious assassin, Zhang understood that if Jiang Bai hadn’t kicked him off the train, he too would have ended up roasted and decapitated like this. Taking a deep breath, Zhang Zuolin solemnly said to Jiang Bai, “Thank you for saving my life! I will never forget your kindness.” He bowed deeply.

Zhang Zuolin’s gratitude was immense. First, Jiang Bai had successfully rescued him. Second, he had saved twenty members of his personal guard—officers whom Zhang himself had trained, the future backbone of the Fengtian Army. The situation in the Three Eastern Provinces was newly settled; Zhang had become the most powerful figure and was given the title Grand Marshal. Yet he was still a step away from gathering political, commercial, and military power as the “King of the Northeast,” much like Liu Bang at the founding of the Han dynasty.

After the chaos, Liu Bang, to hasten the nominal unification and end the disorder, accepted all factions without condition, status, or origin. However, aside from his core aristocratic forces, the various vassals followed his orders only in name, resulting in decrees failing to reach all corners and jeopardizing central authority. Thus, during the decades from 202 BC to 220 AD, Liu Bang devoted all his energy to leading his nobles in campaigns to eliminate rival factions.

Zhang Zuolin’s situation was similar; like Liu Bang at the dawn of Han, his current position resembled the chairman of a large corporation. The Fengtian clique operated almost as a joint-stock company: Zhang held 35% of the shares, sworn brothers had 20%, remnants of the Manchu aristocracy held 10%, Japanese interests 15%, Russians 10%, and the remaining 5% belonged to local landlords and gentry.

To transform this “corporation” from a public company into a family-run enterprise, many conditions were needed—time, money, and most crucially, filling the power vacuum left by purged old factions with new guardians. If these young officers had died here with him, the succession from old Zhang to young Zhang would become fraught with danger.

It was simple: the old guard saw Zhang as their leader and aristocrat, but would never accept his successor as the same. If Zhang neglected this, the power inherited by his son would shrink dramatically after his death.

The degree of “shrinkage” could exceed 80%. If Zhang took precautions early, cultivating and selecting loyal younger officers, the loss could be kept below 50%. If, while still alive, he purged the old ministers and aristocrats, the loss could be controlled below 30%, perhaps even lower.

Thus, Jiang Bai had not merely saved twenty guards; he had preserved the very foundation of Zhang’s future control over the Fengtian Army. The soldiers, seeing Zhang look at Jiang Bai as if he were his own father, lowered their weapons and surrounded the two, recognizing Jiang Bai’s importance had become equal to the Marshal himself.

A familiar, pale-blue system screen appeared before Jiang Bai’s eyes once again.

“Ding! Congratulations, host, for successfully rescuing Zhang Zuolin, earning an expert-level evaluation, and receiving a Difficult-level grand reward!”

“Ding! Congratulations, host, for additionally rescuing twenty young officers, elevating your mission rating to Perfect-level, and upgrading the Difficult-level reward to a Special-level grand reward!”

A Special-level reward?! Jiang Bai was overjoyed. He never expected his extra efforts would be so handsomely repaid. This gave him a deeper understanding of the system’s mission completion—clearly, the tasks were not rigidly fixed. He resolved to study this further in the future.

“Ding! Special-level reward package automatically opened!”

“Congratulations, host, you have acquired Master-level combat techniques. Your fighting skills are now peerless; you can easily take on ten opponents at once!”

“Congratulations, host, you have attained Master-level firearms expertise. Your shooting skills are now flawless; within a hundred meters, you never miss!”

“Congratulations, host, Intelligence +5!”

As the notifications rolled in, Jiang Bai’s body underwent radical changes. His muscles grew stronger under the influence of masterful combat skills. His height, once 175 centimeters, slowly increased to 185. His pants, previously loose, now seemed much shorter, and cold wind rushed up his pant legs. Without his body-strengthening skill, he would have been frozen stiff.

“Ding! Host’s personal panel has been created!”

Host: Jiang Bai
Physical Constitution: 3 (average person: 1)
Stamina: 4 (average person: 2)
Speed: 2 (average person: 1)
Intelligence: 6 (average person: 1)
Current skills: Intermediate Body Strengthening, Master-level Firearms Expertise, Master-level Combat Techniques

Looking at the digitized system panel, Jiang Bai nodded in satisfaction. His overall stats were nearly comparable to the highest level of humanity. Even his weakest speed was twice that of a normal person. According to the system, “average person” referred to those who had reached their peak in each field. In terms of speed, though only double that of a normal person, Jiang Bai could sprint at ten meters per second for a kilometer. Even Usain Bolt, sprinting at ten meters per second, could only maintain that pace for two or three hundred meters before hitting his physiological limit.

With an intelligence boost six times the norm, Jiang Bai’s thoughts became crystal clear. He felt as though his mind was a high-speed computer, able to access any memory instantly. His powerful nervous system gave him complete control over his body, leaving him feeling at an unprecedented peak.

After carefully sensing the changes, Jiang Bai turned and smiled at Zhang Zuolin. “Marshal, now you know who wants you dead, don’t you?”

“The Northern Expedition Army?!” The first name that popped into Zhang’s mind was his greatest adversary, bent on sending him back to Fengtian.

“No, that can’t be. But how did they learn the exact schedule of my special train returning to Fengtian?”