When Xing Chen opened his eyes again, he was back at the cliff.
The tracks of the Rhodes Island were still in the distance. He turned his head and saw his own highly decomposed “corpse.” Not far from the death mark, several other Royal Court Army soldiers’ bodies were scattered, along with a pile of Assassin’s cloth strips.
“No body,” Xing Chen said, after burying his previous life, as he inspected the Assassin’s cloth. “It’s very messy, not like it was taken off voluntarily. It seems the entire person was vaporized by Originium Arts.”
Xing Chen looked around, confirmed there was no one else, and began to take off his clothes.
His attire was out of place in Kazdel, and even the entire Terra continent. It was better to change into local clothing as soon as possible.
The Royal Court Army uniform was too conspicuous, and the Sarkaz physique differed quite a bit from humans. Most importantly, he couldn't pretend to be a Royal Court Army soldier; other races would attack first upon seeing that uniform. Relatively, the Assassin’s cloth strips, with a slight adjustment, would fit well. Many people of other races hadn’t seen Assassins, and those who had wouldn't mistake Xing Chen for an Assassin.
“So, where should I go now?” Xing Chen began to ponder his next move.
He only knew a few factions.
Kazdel city was out of the question; the environment was too poor, and the danger level was high.
Deepsea and Laterano wouldn’t work; his identity would make it impossible to blend in with the locals.
Columbia, Ursus, and Yan Country were not an option; they were too far, and he didn't have navigation.
Other factions were also ruled out one by one. After much thought, he temporarily decided to try his luck with Rhodes Island, and see if he could get some useful information from the 'prison cat's' mouth. This would be beneficial whether he guided the Doctor in the future or went solo.
After determining his goal, Xing Chen meticulously tidied up the Royal Court Army's remains again. Aside from a hard-to-identify handmade picture card, there was nothing else worth mentioning.
Then, he looked at the tracks “not far away.” As someone with a background in geology, he knew very well that in such an open environment, what seemed like a short distance was actually a long and arduous journey. Just the time needed to detour down to the bottom would be considerable.
“…Maybe I can try?” Suddenly, Xing Chen had an idea — what if he just jumped? Would he die? Where would he revive after dying?
The worst-case scenario was just returning to the starting point. If he succeeded, he could save the journey down the cliff.
He acted on the thought immediately.
“Ugh…” Xing Chen suddenly opened his eyes to a dark living room. “It seems it’s not an immortal body.”
“Forget it, I’ll go back to sleep.” Xing Chen closed his eyes again. Perhaps due to exhaustion, he didn’t notice anything unusual about himself.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already at the bottom of the cliff, and the landship’s tracks were ahead… Xing Chen traveled alone in the wilderness, accompanied only by the wind.
He had already confirmed that Terra’s time was not synchronized with reality, and he neither felt hunger nor fatigue.
Two days and nights later, chased by a group of wasteland Crabs, Xing Chen arrived near a small town.
Due to the Catastrophe, the tracks of the Rhodes Island landship were nowhere to be found. Xing Chen had no choice but to enter the small town to try and find more information.
This was a small town located on the border between Leimbieta and Kazdel, named Originium Radish Town.
The town was mainly inhabited by Cattus, with a small number of Sarkaz also making a living there.
“(Leimbieta language) All right, no dangerous goods, and not an Infected. You can let him in.” The female Cattus was just performing a routine check on people entering and exiting. Everyone else was fine, but this young man, whose race couldn’t be identified, had a face as red as a radish.
Another female Cattus saw her companion’s gesture of approval and patted Xing Chen’s shoulder. “(Leimbieta language) Brother, if you’re not feeling well, you can go to the tavern in the town center and order a bottle of radish juice from a year ago to relax.”
Xing Chen didn't understand, but by watching their movements, he knew he could enter the town and should go to a bar in the town center to sit down.
Well, he really did need something to drink to calm himself down. Being groped by a rabbit big sister was still too much for him.
“As expected of this land, rabbits are no exception.” The people of Terra had too advanced a mindset.
“Perhaps I can look forward to Theresa providing some benefits,” Xing Chen thought, unable to help but smile.
Following the guidance of the security team, he easily found this tavern with a mixed Leimbieta and Kazdel style. If one word were to describe it, it would be 'rustic.'
Both Leimbieta and Kazdel were mostly wilderness, with sparse vegetation and extremely fierce sandstorms. Even with Terra's material technology, it couldn't withstand the erosion of nature.
Compared to the resource-scarce Kazdel, Leimbieta's officially registered settlements could still receive some material supplies regularly. At least, they could ensure their houses didn't leak wind.
Outside the tavern, there were many Sarkaz people, carefully tending to their Camels. These were Sarkaz civilian caravans, and it was their tireless journeys that brought precious living supplies to the residents of Kazdel city.
During the previous civil war, Theresis’s army blockaded the road to Kazdel city, forcing these Sarkaz people to rest in the town. But now that the civil war was over and Theresis had withdrawn his people, these individuals still looked troubled.
Xing Chen was very curious, but since he didn't speak Sarkaz, he couldn't ask questions.
Inside the tavern, there were even more Sarkaz people than outside.
Xing Chen had seen some official side stories; he knew that not all Sarkaz were so deeply resentful. More of them were “all striving to live.”
Although he really wanted to say to the bartender, “Warm two cups of radish juice and a plate of dried radish,” he had no money right now, and doing so would likely get him beaten to death.
In the end, Xing Chen just asked the bartender for a glass of plain water, which didn't look very clean.
“I wonder if I’ll get Oripathy after drinking this.” Although he didn’t feel hunger or thirst, eating and drinking could still bring a good deal of satisfaction.
“What are you looking at?” Putting down his cup, Xing Chen looked towards the corner, where a Sarkaz without horns sat. His skin also bore large burn marks from fire.
Assassin.
Damn it, he was still wearing the cloth strips he’d stripped from an Assassin.
So close to Kazdel, with so many people around, and that 'super-sized' mercenary hadn't even noticed.
The Sarkaz just watched silently. However, he did nothing but quietly pick up an iron bucket with tools and walk towards the Camel tethered outside the tavern.
“Alright, buddy, don’t mind him,” a Sarkaz big sister patted Xing Chen’s shoulder and said to him with a slightly apologetic tone, “He participated in the civil war before, and his mind is a bit unstable.”
Xing Chen nodded. Seeing this, the other person continued, “I’m the leader of his caravan. I saw you ordered a glass of plain water. Were you robbed by bandits? I know my compatriots don’t have a very good reputation, but if you need a temporary place to stay, you can come to the west entrance of the town.”