Chapter 438 That Is God’s Will (1/2)

"MMP... finally came out!"

Breathing heavily, the construction site boy and Brick wiped the sand and sweat from their faces, looking at the mountains in front, joy couldn't help but rush to their brows.

It's not just him.

All the power players in the Death Corps couldn't help but cheer when they saw the desert border.

After three rounds of pedaling all the way, they were almost upgraded, and they were able to see the mountains of the River Valley Province.

If they weren't worried about their little experience and hard-earned equipment, they would have used the "last-hit TP" method to return to the city!

Kakarot couldn't help but complain.

"Damn, Brother Mole is so comfortable. He just came back from vacation in Ideal City and he took on a big job."

The debt-ridden man sitting on the tricycle nodded with deep understanding.

"But that's 900 kilometers...how does he plan to get there?"

The boy at the construction site and Brick interjected and complained.

"Who knows, we riding three-wheelers have to worry about others driving cars?"

Hearing the weird comments from all his teammates, Bing Shui smiled sheepishly and patted his mount on the shoulder.

"Hehe... I'm sorry, brother, I made you feel wronged."

The construction site boy and Brick rolled their eyes.

"You know better than to forgive me!"

It's base to scold the group leader for not being a human being.

Most people are actually not that narrow-minded. The conditions when the server was first launched were much better than they are now.

At least there are tricycles now.

At that time, even bicycles were as precious as giant pandas. Even T0 and T1 players mostly ran the map on two legs.

In any case, although there were many ups and downs along the way, they finally broke through the legion's encirclement network and completed the miracle of thousands of miles of attack and thousands of miles of transfer.

Everyone's faces were filled with joyful smiles.

Even the captured Piman and Antoinette.

The two of them, who were tied into rice dumplings and thrown on the tricycle, were almost cooked by the sun.

No matter what these people planned to do with themselves, this torture in the sun and the wind was finally over.

"The map of this game is really big..." Debt raised his telescope and glanced towards the north. He still couldn't see the edge of the map, as if there was no such setting in this game.

This is probably the first time that Alliance players have set foot in the northern border of the River Valley Province.

Although this is also a plain belt, the plain here has a completely different feeling from that in the south.

The green forests and grasslands all over the mountains and plains are no longer visible here. Instead, there are bare yellow soil and sea buckthorn grass swaying on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

There is a forest in the distance, but the straight pine trees are bare, not a single leaf can be seen on the branches, and the entire vegetation has withered.

A strip of sky seems to divide the entire province into two completely different worlds.

If the modeling in Qingquan City is gray-green, then here it looks more like a pot of shit-yellow paint has been poured on it.

not only that.

The mutant hounds wandering nearby are also uglier. The mutant hounds with thick hair in the south have only a few sparse hairs on their foreheads here.

But in comparison, the aliens here are obviously more muscular. Not only are their bones bigger, but their muscles are even bulging onto their faces.

But it may be precisely because of this that the twisted muscles compress their eyeballs, causing them to have difficulty with their eyesight, and they may offend the wrong people.

More than thirty mutated hounds surrounded him, and they roared fiercely.

Sitting on the edge of the water behind the construction site man, he did not panic at all. He held the machine gun and swept over with a shuttle. Half of the mutated hounds that rushed up were dead in an instant.

The other half was easily solved by a few players who got off the car with engineer shovels and bayonets without any delay.

"The strength is slightly higher than that of mutant hyenas and gnawers... It should be around level five or six."

The edge of the water shook the blood on the shovel, and suddenly noticed that there was movement in the distance, so he gave his teammates a look, put down the shovel, and picked up the rifle hanging on his chest again.

The four of them approached carefully, only to see a humanoid monster squatting on the ground with its back to them, its mud-covered hands digging on the ground.

Its body was thin and skinny, its skin color was sickly gray, and its wrinkled skin was covered with pus and sores, like a corpse soaked in a lake, as if it was rummaging for something in the soil.

Finally, it seemed to have found it. It excitedly pulled something out of the soil, then stuffed it into its mouth, and devoured it greedily, accompanied by a squeaking sound.

The edge paddling and the construction site boy exchanged glances with Brick, their faces were a little confused, not sure what it was.

Seemingly noticing the movement behind him, the monster stopped what he was doing, glanced at the four of them warily, began to retreat to the side, and then ran into the nearby forest on both hands and feet.

Debt raised his rifle and aimed it at its back, but in the end he suppressed the muzzle of the gun without wasting bullets.

"...What is that?"

"I'm more curious about what he is eating..."

The boy and Brick at the construction site walked forward curiously, but soon they saw half of their brains buried in the soil.

His face suddenly turned blue and white, and he stopped talking with a retching sound.

"Navy blue... they are military uniforms," ​​Bian Huaishui went to take a look in the morning, pulled on the ground twice with an engineer shovel, and frowned slightly, "They are from the legion."

And there is a high probability that he is the ten-capion commander!

For a moment, the edge paddling suddenly seemed to understand something, and glanced at the pitted and mud-filled wilderness around him.

This place should have been a battlefield before!

It was here that the Legion's expeditionary force met the armies of the Rift.

And the endless undulations and deep pits on the plain are probably all plowed out by artillery fire...

Although they were curious about the alien species that they had never seen before, no players pursued him.

That forest without leaves always makes people cautious, and they don't know what weird things are hidden in it.

They still have a job to do, and it's best not to get into trouble.

The group continued forward and soon encountered a large settlement of survivors.

When they saw a populated place, the players' faces showed expressions of joy.

Their supplies were almost exhausted along the way, and they were finally able to replenish them.

Instructing the large army to wait in the distance, Bing Shui led several familiar teammates forward, stopped a scavenger and asked.

"where is this place?"

The scavenger glanced at the exoskeleton on his body, then at his rifle, and said alertly.

"This place doesn't have a name. We call it the recycling bin."

"Recycle bin?" Debt Big Eyes interjected and asked curiously.

"Yes, have you seen the plain in the distance?" The man pointed to the muddy land in the distance, "Over there are the trenches dug by the Legion Expeditionary Force. Later they were beaten and abandoned. A, he died, he ran away...all his equipment was thrown over there."

The edge paddler looked in the direction he pointed, and vaguely saw two trenches that were in the crater stage.

"Are you here to scavenge?"

"That's right," the man glanced at the camp behind him and said in a vague voice, "Everyone is here to pick up garbage. Some people pick up garbage, some collect garbage, and some sell shovels... Although the legion did not do anything good, But their corpses can feed a lot of people.”

Edge of Water nodded.

It seems that this is not a fixed camp, but a "nomadic group" composed of scavengers.

Maybe after the nearby garbage is dug out and the scavengers move away one after another, the camp will be moved to other places.

As for who is collecting these garbage, there is no need to think about it. There is no doubt that it is people from the Bugla Free State.

"Can we restock here?"

"Why not? You just go to the merchants in the camp. They are willing to sell anything, as long as you are willing to pay. But... it is best not to cause trouble, unless you plan to make enemies of everyone here."

The scavenger gave a faint reminder, and without wasting any more time, he picked up the sack and walked towards the muddy field.

Debt looked toward the edge and paddled.

"How to say?"

Edge Pad thought for a moment and made a quick judgment.

"Replenish supplies and continue on the road."

"Why not camp here?" the construction site man asked curiously.

"The captives have a special status, and here are people doing business with the Bugla Free State. There is no guarantee that there are not their spies inside."

He glanced at the back of the scavenger and moved his chin.

"Let's go."

"After replenishing the supplies, we have to get on the road as soon as possible."

…

The exoskeleton was replaced.

Edge Paddling took Big Eyes and the construction workers into the camp called the recycling station.

Although it looks shabby from the outside, there is a lot of excitement inside the camp.

Merchants holding two-headed oxen set up stalls on both sides of the road. They sold not only bottles and cans, but also occasionally some unusual high-tech products.

These include security robots with rifles welded to iron pipes, and android coolies modified from scavenged trash and intelligent cores.

There are even people selling power armor.

However, when I walked up to take a look, I discovered that except for a fuel rod that was almost out of power inserted in the chest, there was no part of the thing that had anything to do with the power armor.

The boy and Bian at the construction site curiously looked at the label, and their eyes widened when they saw that it actually cost 600,000 Cr.

"Damn it! They're robbing money!"

If I remember correctly, the current exchange rate between Cr and silver coins is 1:3, which is 1.8 million silver coins!

The merchant who was selling things glanced at him and saw the ignorant and poor look on his face, so he didn't bother to talk to him.

"We're not here to buy equipment." Bian Pian patted the construction worker on the shoulder and pulled him back.

Most of the equipment here is DIY by scavengers, and the failure rate is probably quite impressive.

He wasn't even interested in bargaining.

"By the way, how much did the power armor that Lao Bai bought cost?" Big Eyes in Debt suddenly asked.

Edge Paddling thought for a while and said.

"I remember... it was 1 million silver coins?"

As soon as they heard that it only cost 1 million silver coins, all the players were filled with emotion.

Sure enough, managers still have a conscience.

These wastelanders are really unusually cunning!

After wandering around the market, they finally found a merchant selling grain.

The old man selling the goods is quite old, about forty years old. He looks like someone from Luoxia Province. People there have deep eye sockets regardless of the color of their skin.

To the surprise of all the players, this merchant actually collected coins!

According to the old man, he planned to go to the south on his next trip, so he wanted both dinars and silver coins.

"4,000 kilograms of dry bread, 300 kilograms of beef jerky... Let me calculate, well, I have to charge you 10,000 silver coins."

After hearing the old man's quotation, Big Eyes couldn't help but complain.

"Damn! It's so expensive!"

The construction worker also swallowed.

"Ten thousand silver coins... is enough to buy a light cavalry exoskeleton."

Edge Paddling smiled nonchalantly.

"If you think about it from another perspective, you can use the price of a light cavalry exoskeleton to supply five centurions. Anyway, I think it is already a good deal."

There is no way to fight without spending money.

Problems that can be solved with money are not problems, not to mention that logistics expenses are reimbursed by managers.

He took out 100 bills from his pocket and handed them to the old man's hands.

"make a deal."

The old man took the money with a smile, greeted the young men on the side, helped weigh the materials, packed them for the guests, and sent them outside the camp.

Edge Paddling asked the construction workers to follow them, while he and Big Eyes stayed in the camp.

When the construction man came back, the debtor's big eyes suddenly thought of the corpse-like monster he saw on the journey, so he looked at the old man and asked.

"Have you ever seen a... monster whose skin looks like it has been soaked in water, like a living corpse?"

"Blistered? Living corpse?" The old man thought for a while, and a smile suddenly appeared on his wrinkled face.

"What you encountered must be a ghoul."

Debt was stunned for a moment.

"Ghoul?"

"Well, there is a nuclear crater that stretches for hundreds of kilometers to the west of the Great Rift Valley. I guess they crawled out from there. They generally don't eat living things, but they don't eat dead things. They regard plague and decay as delicacies. ”

After dusting off the ashes from his pipe, the old salesman squinted his eyes and looked at the scavengers in the distance, then took a puff from his cigarette holder.

"...Don't worry about those guys, they're just a bunch of poor people."

…

On the other side, in the far southern part of Luoxia Province, under the double-headed peaks of the Zhuobar Mountains.

With the help of interested people, news of the Legion's arrival soon spread in the Petra Fortress.

However, what everyone didn't expect was that the news went wrong as it spread, and became more and more outrageous...

It's dusk again.

Old Boomer handed the account book into Si Si's hands, hesitated for a moment, and finally couldn't help but speak.

"Miss... We can't stay in Petra Fortress any longer. You'd better go to the south dock and buy a boat before it's too late."

Looking at Bulma with a sad face, Sisi was stunned for a moment after taking the account book, and his unbearable expression couldn't help but be a little weird.

"Didn't you say... that it is impossible for the Petra Fortress to fall?"

If she remembered correctly, she should have heard this sentence three days ago.

"That's right. The fortress built by the gods cannot be captured by mortals. If the legions come, no matter how many people they come, Petra Fortress will make it difficult for them to walk around..."

Old Boomer still had a determined expression on his face, but as he spoke, his voice couldn't help but feel guilty.

"...But if the evil god comes, everything will be difficult to say."

"Evil God?!" Taitail opened his eyes wide in surprise. He didn't mind watching the excitement and came up to him, and asked excitedly, "What does he look like?"

"A combination of thousands of uglies. No one knows where he came from. It could be the sky or the deep sea. The moment he descended, his body filled the entire river embankment, and tens of thousands of tentacles tore it apart. The clouds in the sky, even the God of the sky is not his opponent..."

Tails' eyes glowed.

"Oh! Oversized tentacles!"

Old Buma's pupils were clouded, trying to use words to describe something he had never seen before.

But at present, it seems that only Taitail dares to believe it, and even Rourou shook his head after hearing it.

"...The legion chose to choose such a large desert. There is no doubt that they know that they cannot defeat us with their own strength, so they plan to use evil sacrifices to awaken the demons suppressed by the sky scepter."

"This desert is finished... Ragnarok will come again, and this time, there is no god who can stop him."

The old man muttered incoherently, his cloudy pupils filled with despair. The deep voice became smaller and smaller until it was completely inaudible and blended into the distant dimness outside the window.

Holding the snoring cat in his arms, Sesame Paste quietly looked at Si Si aside and asked in a low voice.

"Is this part of the plan?"

Sis, lost in thought, shook his head.

"I just asked the mercenary to spread the news about the Lost Valley where the legion is stationed. I didn't expect the people here... to be so imaginative."

The legions stationed in the Lost Valley are performing evil rituals in an attempt to awaken the evil god who has been sleeping for 200 years, and use the power of the devil to capture the insurmountable Petra...

The plan exceeded expectations, and even staunch believers like Boomer began to waver.

Looking at that old face full of sorrow, Sisi couldn't help but feel worried.

Could it be that I have exerted too much force...

And just when she was worried, there was suddenly a heavy knock on the door.

Sesame paste who was standing by the door heard it and walked up to open the door.

"Sorry, we are closed today——"

In the middle of her words, when she saw the person at the door clearly, she was stunned on the spot.

I saw a group of guards with guns and ammunition standing at the door, about thirty of them.

They had submachine guns slung on their waists and already in their hands.

The man in the lead was the captain of a nearby patrol.

Old Boomer recognized that face at a glance, and quickly stepped forward and said with a smile.

"Captain Seandis? What are your orders?"

Ignoring the old man, Seandis looked around at everyone in the room, including the talking bear, expressionlessly.

"Who's the boss here?"

Rourou was about to raise her hand hesitantly, when the tail next to her took a step forward——

However, before Tails' arm could be raised, he was pushed back by Sisi who was standing aside.

'give it to me'

Giving Tai Tai a reassuring look, Sisi walked over to the sesame paste.

Glancing at the mercenary who had been controlled, she looked at the captain of the patrol and said calmly.

"it's me."

Seeing that she had no intention of violently resisting arrest, the patrol captain stopped talking and waved.

"Come with us."

…

A castle shrouded in twilight.

The palace of the Lord of Petra Fortress was crowded with anxious-looking ministers.

A man in luxurious clothing sat on a stone chair, looking down at the people at the steps with an expressionless expression.

His right elbow rested on the cold armrest, and the index finger of his left hand tapped on the armrest. He looked like he was deep in thought or out of pure impatience.

His name is Thain, and he is the city lord of the Petra Fortress here. His family is a prominent family in the Camelback Kingdom and has guarded the northern border of the kingdom for generations.

The Camelback Kingdom declared war on the Falcon Kingdom a long time ago, but has yet to send troops.

While many believed this was weakness on the part of the royal family, he knew that was not the case.

No one in this kingdom is more pious and brave than Your Majesty.

How could that respected gentleman not know that the consequences of appeasement can only be exchanged for extravagant gains?

In fact, the royal family has always been interested in gathering troops to go north to help, but the city lords, including the lord of Silveryue City, only want to provide money, not people.

This group of profit-seeking businessmen are still hoping to kill the Legion with their money bags.

This is simply not a problem that money can solve.

Thane was of course on the king's side.

The reason why the Petra Fortress and his family survive to this day depends on the favor of the royal family.

They eat food shipped from the oasis and drink water from the oasis. They are the most loyal garrison state, which is fundamentally different from those city-states governed by corruption by nobles and businessmen.

But he alone is not enough.

In this kingdom corrupted by money, cowards are everywhere and brave people are rare.

This is true whether it is His Majesty's court or his court...

"...We should negotiate with the Legion. There is nothing that cannot be solved by sitting down and talking."

"The Lion Royal Family is too rude. If they hadn't adopted the children of the Honey Badger Royal Family, they wouldn't have been targeted by the Falcon Kingdom!"

"Actually, I think... it's not bad to be like the Falcon Kingdom. The legion has given them a lot of assistance. The reason why that oasis is not abandoned is because the legion's people help them."

"There is really nothing to say about this. Although the Wilantes have a bad temper and their attitude towards slaves is a bit scary, they still have nothing to say about their vassals. They will give them whatever they need."

"No matter what, don't go to war. The soil in Petra Fortress cannot grow food. Once trade is affected by war, those poor people will starve."

The ministers in the palace were talking a lot.

Including nobles, wealthy businessmen and guests who have no real power.

Someone proposed negotiating with the Legion.

Some people even vaguely hinted that the Falcon Kingdom seems to be good. Not only is the Falcon royal family sitting on the throne, but the national power has doubled compared to ten years ago.

Sain was very upset after hearing this, but he couldn't get angry at these people. After all, Petra Fortress couldn't do without them.

He was about to wave these people away, but at this moment, footsteps came from the door of the hall.

The heavy wooden door opened.

The captain of the guard stood in front of the door and gave a military salute.

"Sir, I brought that person."

The ministers and nobles in the hall stopped talking and looked at the door curiously.

Sain waved and motioned for him to bring the person up.

The guard captain bowed to accept the order and walked out of the door neatly.

After a while, he brought a foreign woman.

Seeing this scene, everyone in the hall began to whisper, wondering what the city lord was planning to do.

Ignore the noisy voice.

Sion, who was sitting on the stone chair, stared at the woman at the foot of the steps and looked her over.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

Knowing that there was no point in pretending to be crazy, Si Si simply nodded and admitted.

"Know."

Seeing the unchanging expression on that face, Sai'an had a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

Those cowards who are eager to kneel down to the legions should be ashamed of what they said. Not even a little girl has the courage.

but--

Appreciation is appreciation.

The law is the law.

Looking down at the man at the bottom of the steps, he said with a hint of coldness in his eyes, half-smiling.

"In the Kingdom of Camelback, those who spread rumors and cause trouble will have their tongues cut out."

"Those who cheat in the name of gods will be punished by sand punishment and buried in the yellow sand for ten days. No food or fresh water will be given to them except by gods."

"Almsgiving to those who are suffering will avoid punishment for three days, and you can choose the order in which you will be punished."

"Do you plead guilty?"

The solemn and cold voice echoed in the empty hall.

Everyone's eyes were focused on her, some expressed surprise, some said it was true, and some had expressionless faces.

I didn't expect that the incident that was making waves in the city was actually caused by a little girl... This may sound a bit unbelievable.

But looking at the city lord's expression, it didn't seem like he was joking.

A look of interest gradually appeared in everyone's eyes.

Regardless of whether she was pushed out to take the blame, they were all curious about how the alien girl planned to answer.

Si Si remained silent and did not speak.

She knew that no matter whether she nodded or shook her head at this time, the outcome would not be good.

By the way, does giving mean using golden camel coins in exchange for those "waste products"?

She didn't think it was a charity, at most it was a mutually beneficial business.

However, she was a little surprised that the city lord knew so well what was happening in the city.

It seems that I still take it for granted and underestimate the wisdom of NPC.

After finishing that matter, we should immediately give those mercenaries a sum of money and ask them to leave here quickly.

The only thing I'm thankful for now is that I didn't involve anyone else in the Knights.

The city lord seemed to look down upon their little property, and maybe he didn't bother to plunder them in this way.

After calming down, Sisi's thoughts were running rapidly in his mind, thinking of ways to break the situation.

Do you deny that you made up those rumors?

This is a fact.

She indeed did not make up anything about gods. Those exaggerated rumors were all born from rumors.

However, this kind of sophistry was obviously of no use. The other party would not play word games with her at all. As long as the mercenary confessed, it would be meaningless to deny it.

As for moving out of the league, that is even more undesirable.

If the Camelback Kingdom were to regard itself as a spy under the command of the Alliance, the results would probably be even worse.

Not to mention whether it will lose the manager's favorability, if such an operation is carried out, it will turn an ordinary case into a diplomatic dispute. The Camelback Kingdom, which has declared no war, is swaying like a wallflower. What happened? He might fall directly to the opposite side.

Their faith is not that firm to begin with…

Wait, Faith!

Seizing the clue to break the situation in an instant, Sisi's eyes lit up slightly, and his boiling brain quickly cooled down.

Recalling what she had read in the two books, she gathered her thoughts for a moment and looked up at the city lord sitting on the stone chair.

"Dear Mr. City Lord, the rumors in the city are indeed related to me, but I don't think I am guilty."

Whispers spread throughout the hall.

The city lord narrowed his eyes slightly and moved his left arm to support his chin.

"oh?"

Although this pale sophistry could not change her fate, he still wanted to hear what this person planned to say to exonerate himself.

"Those rumors did arise because of me, but they were not rumors."

She raised her head.

She could feel the pairs of eyes falling on her, most of them had bad intentions, and the other half were probably just looking at the fun.

However, there was nothing timid about her.

She knew very well that if she showed any timidity at this time, or showed even a trace of hesitation, all her previous efforts would be wasted.

The calm expression did not change at all. She raised her voice, and her voice was filled with a hint of piety - or in other words, confidence.

That confidence comes not only from the fact that what she said is true.

Even more because——

"That's God's will."