Thank you for the invitation. I am in Terra, just under the stars.

The specialties are dried meat and brown bread. The local taste is spicy, so he bought a few large bags, which can be used as dry food on the road.

I also bought a lot of water, especially expensive bottled water. I bought two of them, a total of 48 bottles.

As a place whose side business is to provide supplies to passing mercenaries, Gro Town has bottled water that is not very cost-effective, which some merchants specially transport to sell.The target customers are some powerful mercenary groups. Although bottled water is not very practical, it can slightly improve the morale of the mercenaries.

Eat well and drink well to be motivated when going into battle to kill the enemy.

Sit in the driver's seat and start the vehicle. The huge armored vehicle started slowly and left the town of Gro in the eyes of passersby on the road in surprise.

………………

A few hours later, the sun was shining brightly in the sky.

On the desolate land, a black shadow rode across the dust, almost pulling out a long line, passing through a group of wild beasts by the water at lightning speed. The death threat brought by the huge kinetic energy passed by, startling them who were licking the water to drink. Have to scatter and flee.

in the car,

Looking at a few lonely old factory ruins on the roadside in the distance, a look of surprise appeared in Shining's eyes.

She was actually not too angry at first and naturally ended the cold war that had only lasted for a while and said:

"A Cheng, in front is the factory in Emerald City.

"In a while, there will be more factories."

"So, we're arriving?"

"Ah."

Shining nodded slightly,

She originally thought it would take three days to get to Emerald City, which was her conservative estimate, but in fact the off-road vehicle was traveling much faster than this time.

It was really unimaginable speed. Even though she didn't care too much about this aspect, she still vaguely felt that the technology in Acheng's hands was probably stronger than that of Kazdaele's military combined.

Kazdaele also has a military, but it is not recognized internationally. The military is the Kazdaele Military Council, and its leader is General Tresis, one of the two royal families of Sarkaz.

"There will be more factories in the next section, and conflicts may occur if you drive past it at high speed."

"OK."

Holding the steering wheel with one hand and making a gesture, Zhou Cheng began to slow down the car.

He is not a murderous person, and he will not...well, he rarely deliberately creates conflicts.

………………

The noisy noise of the factory's operation seemed to echo in his head. Holding a cigarette in his hand, the thin Sakaz mercenary rubbed his temples painfully.

After a while, the pain finally eased, and he complained:

"Fuck it, damn it, I will never take on the task of guarding the factory gate again. 'Sakaz's foul language', the sound is like a knife scratching the glass!"

Beside him, another much older Sakaz mercenary took a big puff of nicotine, blew out a large cloud of smoke from his nose, and sneered:

"Excuse me, apart from guarding the door for those vampires, what other tasks are safe and profitable? Do you want to compete with the rock crabs to see who is tougher? Or do you want to eliminate the infected creatures to the east?

"Oh, if you had the courage, would you still watch the gate with me?"

"Who said I dare not?"

The young Sakaz mercenary blushed and retorted excitedly.

Then, he hesitated and defended:

"I just, just don't have money. I need money. I use the money to buy equipment. Only with better equipment will I go on more dangerous tasks..."

"Come on, I just saw you in a brothel in the city last week. Are you looking for women in a place like that and can't afford a set of equipment?"

The brothels in Emerald City are not generally expensive, at least for low-level mercenaries like them, they have to tighten their pockets for a month just to visit.

The young Sakaz mercenary stopped talking.

The older Sakaz mercenary thought he was speechless, so he wanted to ridicule him a few more words, but at this moment he saw his fellow soldier from last week looking at the distance with a look of astonishment.

He immediately became alert, picked up a heavy crossbow, and looked over there.

They saw an armored vehicle that was much taller than them slowly approaching. The sun's rays fell on the dark armor with a sinister sheen.

The most outrageous thing was that he couldn't hear the sound of such a large armored vehicle operating from less than a hundred meters away!

"Then, what is that!?"

The old mercenary was still shocked, but the young man next to him was already frightened.

He grasped a long iron rod with both hands, but the weapon that could easily defeat some sneaky people in the past could not bring any sense of security at this time.

"How about, how about we hide, hide for a while?"

His legs were swaying, and he was asking, but his steps had begun to slowly retreat.

The old mercenary snorted and laughed:

"Look at what you're afraid of. Do you think anyone can drive that kind of car? Think about the armor and size. Who else but the people on the Military Commission has the strength to build such an iron-clad monster?"

"You're not afraid, then why are you hiding in the back with me?"

"..."

The old mercenary coughed lightly and argued:

"Swords don't have eyes. What if the master in the car thinks we hit him?"

The young mercenary finally got a chance. Even though his face was pale and his arms were trembling, he did not show any weakness on his face and sneered:

"That sounds nice, aren't you scared? If you dare, why don't you go out? Don't hide behind the wall."

"'Dirty Sakaz'!"

"Hehe, you're scared."

"'Vicious Sakaz swear words'!"

"You're afraid."

"'Unintelligible foul language'!"

The two mercenaries were arguing endlessly, while the dark armored vehicle drifted away without stopping in front of their factory.

lick.jpg

PS: Good morning, I lost another night playing three pendulums.

20. Privileges of the Pardoner

As the dark armored vehicle passed through the factory gathering area,

In the car, Zhou Cheng looked at both sides and suddenly said:

"I don't seem to know the Emerald City yet."

In fact, it's not important, it's just a normal time to find something to talk about.

"...I'm going to tell you on the way." Shining, who was reading a book on the side, took a few seconds to respond.

The car was going too fast and she was there before she could say anything.

"Then, tell me briefly?"

"Emerald City... There is actually nothing special here. It is an industrial city with tens of thousands of people living there. In addition to the factory area we just passed, there are many factories further away."

"It sounds like the factory should provide the vast majority of jobs?"

"Yes, most of the commissions that mercenaries can receive in this city are related to factories."

For example, patrolling, guarding, or eliminating infected organisms near some factories.

There are even commissions to directly destroy competitors' factories or warehouses. Even though this kind of thing is prohibited in the Emerald City, as long as the money is available, there are always people with hot heads willing to do it.

"However, there have been changes in the past two years. It is very close to the battlefields in the east and west."

The civil war between the two Sakaz royal families made many merchants and mercenaries come here like sharks smelling the smell of blood.Merchants want to get benefits from it, while mercenaries want to get in touch with the royal family. Even if they do something casual, the rewards will be much richer than ordinary commissions.

"I probably understand...huh? That's..."

Shining stopped explaining and followed Zhou Cheng's gaze.

The outline of the Emerald City Wall can already be vaguely seen here, but the first thing that catches the eye is a huge slum.

The shabby shacks grew like cowhide under the feet of the tall city wall, looking from afar like an endless stinking ditch.

People with sallow faces and thin muscles huddled inside, wrapped in tattered clothes that they had worn for an unknown period of time, and their eyes were gray and dull.

Shining was silent for a few seconds and said:

"...They all come to Emerald City to make a living, but accommodation in the city is too expensive."

It was not expensive at first, and as long as you worked, you could have a place to live, which led to an influx of a large number of immigrants in the beginning.But as more and more people came, Emerald City officials raised prices through a series of policies to avoid overpopulation in the city.

Emerald City has no idea of ​​expanding the city through these populations, at least not until the end of the eastern and western battlefields next to it.However, the merchants' factories opened one after another because of these inexhaustible manpower.

New factories created more job opportunities, making the slums unable to reduce in size.

Looking at the slums filled with sewage, Shining frowned slightly, and finally just sighed softly.

Most people here voluntarily live here for money. Even though consumption here is higher, wages are higher than elsewhere.

Studying medicine can't save Kazdale, there's still too much she can do.

The car bypassed the slums and entered a relatively clean road. After driving for a short distance, the huge main entrance of the Emerald City appeared in front of us.

The clean cement road extends into the city. There are tall and powerful Sakaz warriors holding big swords guarding the main entrance. There are also crossbowmen on the city wall.

Some caravans are getting ready to go, some mercenaries have just returned from outside, and there are many young poor people looking for work everywhere.

And when the dark armored vehicle slowly approached, the decibel level of the originally noisy environment immediately dropped by two levels.Some people kept silent and retreated behind the others, while those who were still speaking lowered their voices and secretly looked at the armored vehicle, which looked very high-tech.

The tall Sakaz, who was responsible for registering into the city, took the initiative to come up and asked in a respectful tone:

"Is this a military commission?"

The car window lowered, and what appeared behind was a mask in the shape of an alien skull, and a pair of beautiful pure white horns.

A calm and steady voice came from behind the mask.

"It's the Pardoner."

The sight behind the ferocious mask made Sakaz, who was in charge of registration, stop breathing for a moment, as if his heart was being squeezed by invisible hands.

The Emerald City is a large city with a sensitive location, and there are many rumors here that cannot be distinguished from the truth.

For example, the Pardoners have actually been conducting horrific human experiments, and the materials come from their patients...

After swallowing his saliva, the tall Saka continued to smile apologetically:

"It's all the same. Who is the Pardoner? I'll register it for you."

"The Shining."

"Okay, please come in."

They were released before registration was completed.

There are very few people in Kazdael pretending to be the Absolver, and the mask requires special craftsmanship and is difficult to imitate.

As for the armored vehicles, the Pardoner and the Military Council are very close, and it is normal to have armored vehicles. Rather, this is evidence that the Pardoner is a great person.

………………

The Shining also has a residence in Emerald City, a villa located on the edge of the city center with three floors in the basement.

Looking at the yard with bright flowers and plants, Zhou Cheng, carrying a bag of local products, asked:

"Have you hired someone to take care of it?"

The car has been parked in the parking lot of the community. The city center of Emerald City is not much different from the modern city before he traveled through it. It has basically everything it needs, including exhibition halls, libraries, theaters, hospitals, schools, etc.... You can clearly feel civilization here.However, after leaving the center of the city, the city suddenly became dirty and chaotic. Even within the city, it seemed like people were living in two worlds.

Shining, who was looking for the key in a bunch of keys, shook his head slightly and denied:

"Maybe it was arranged by Emerald City."

"Oh, what about this bunch of keys...?" Zhou Cheng's eyes fell on the large bunch of keys again.

Good guy, it turns out you are still a rich woman with a stack of real estate certificates?

In response to that curious look, she nodded slightly and replied:

"Basically, they are all given as gifts."