The two of them carried their respective supplies and walked through the wilderness, constantly pushing aside the obstructive weeds with the tools in their hands.
Qian Long, being experienced, walked in front, judging the direction as he went, and adjusting their route from time to time.
Seeing his strenuous efforts, Tang Zhen couldn't help but ask, "Is this how you usually navigate? Don't you have maps or compasses?"
Qian Long shook his head and said with a hint of helplessness, "Maps are very unreliable, incredibly expensive, and hard to come by.
Except for a few fixed locations, other places are constantly changing.
For instance, these weeds underfoot, even if you burn them down, will return to their original state the next day.
A large area of buildings might suddenly appear on what was once an empty patch of grass.
Ordinary compasses are also useless; they just spin wildly and can't determine direction at all."
Ultimately, in this environment, only experience is truly reliable.
They walked and stopped, resting for a while when they were tired.
As dusk approached, they finally arrived at a narrow path.
The path seemed to be frequently used, preventing weeds from growing.
Qian Long told Tang Zhen that following this path would lead to a Tower City.
This Tower City, named Black Rock City, was powerful, with its main tower reaching twenty stories high.
Surrounding the main tower were four annexes, twenty meters high and five stories tall, serving as the main defensive components of the main tower.
Powerful armies were stationed within the tower, responsible for guarding the city's safety.
Near the outskirts of the Tower City, there was a small town built by wanderers, earning wealth for the city while indirectly enjoying its protection.
Wanderers traded goods and information there, while also awaiting the opportunity to join the Tower City.
Because monsters would collectively roam after dark, and their numbers would mysteriously increase significantly, sometimes even appearing out of nowhere if luck was bad, the two of them quickened their pace.
They finally reached the market before nightfall.
Tang Zhen observed the wanderer town from a distance, noting that it was built on a hillside and covered a vast area.
Weeds within several kilometers of the settlement had been cleared, providing a wide-open view.
The walls, constructed from boulders and logs, appeared very sturdy, easily exceeding five meters in height, and many armed wanderers patrolled on top.
The two hurried along, finally entering the town at the last moment before the gate closed.
After each paying two brain beads, they were granted permission by the guards to freely enter the town for one month.
The wanderer town was very large, covering several hectares, like a rudimentary fortress!
Unfortunately, this place was not a Tower City allowed by the laws of heaven and did not enjoy any of the conveniences that a Tower City possessed.
However, everything has its pros and cons; once a Tower City is established, these wanderers who haven't obtained resident qualifications will be unable to enter, and the owner of the wanderer town will lose a large amount of wealth income.
If they wanted to convert all the wanderers in the market into residents, the Tower City would need to be very high-level, but each level upgrade required countless resources.
Moreover, during each upgrade, the Tower City would suffer monster sieges, and a failed defense would mean all efforts were in vain.
Investing countless resources, painstakingly working, and still potentially losing everything, compared to that, managing a wanderer town was naturally more carefree.
Furthermore, when monsters attacked, the wanderer town could provide a large number of combat personnel and form the first line of defense.
It was likely this consideration that led Black Rock City to establish this wanderer town near their Tower City.
The only drawback was that monsters would attack here from time to time, and the nightly guard duty felt like a constant battle.
Ordinary small monsters were easy to deal with, but if they were unlucky enough to encounter powerful monsters, the town could very well suffer a devastating blow.
However, wanderers had limited choices; sometimes, even knowing it wasn't ideal, they could only grit their teeth and do it.
This was the truth of survival: you must adapt to life and fate, rather than expecting life and fate to accommodate you!
The controllers of the wanderer town also had their own armed forces.
Soldiers wearing simple armor, with serious and indifferent expressions, could be seen on the streets from time to time, their keen eyes scrutinizing every wanderer they saw.
Tang Zhen carefully observed the weapons and equipment of these soldiers, finding that most of the weapons were of average quality, and the armor only protected vital areas, making him wonder if it could withstand the piercing and slashing of swords.
However, compared to wanderers who only carried short knives and iron rods, with various metal and wood scraps attached to their bodies as armor, these soldiers were considered well-equipped.
During the evening, many wanderers were still active in the market, either coming and going from simple houses or gathering around fire pits to chat.
In addition, there were some armed wanderers who had been hired by the market, standing solemnly on the market walls, guarding against potential monster attacks.
Not far from the wanderer market, a vast Tower City stood in the night, looking like a monstrous beast.
Wanderers in the market only needed to look up to see the faint light emanating from the Tower City's windows, their eyes mostly flickering with longing, seemingly fantasizing about one day being able to live inside and end their painful, wandering lives.
A commotion erupted, and Tang Zhen followed the sound to see a group of monsters attempting to attack the market.
After about ten minutes, the monsters were defeated by the guards' resistance, leaving behind many corpses before fleeing the area.
When the sun rose tomorrow, these monsters would have their brain beads extracted, and their bodies would be cleaned up by scavenging animals.
If one looked carefully outside at that moment, they would find that many monsters were still roaming outside the town.
They still tried to attack, but fearful of the wanderers' fire and blades, yet unwilling to leave, they could only let out frustrated roars.
Qian Long was very familiar with this place.
He led the way, guiding Tang Zhen into a large, two-story adobe building.
This was one of the cheaper inns in the town, appearing low and dim, with a very strange smell lingering in the air.
Behind the wooden counter in front of the fire pit, a woman with relatively clean clothes and a somewhat charming face sat there, with two strong men sitting beside her, drinking cheap wine from wooden cups.
Upon seeing Tang Zhen and Qian Long, the two strong men glanced at them a few times and then ignored them.
"Two people, three days."
"It's half a Level 1 brain bead per person per day, including two meals.
Three days will be three Level 1 brain beads.
Pay up, handsome young men!"
As the woman spoke, she leaned forward, revealing her pale chest.
With her movement, a deep, unfathomable cleavage appeared before the two of them, and a faint scent of flesh wafted towards them.
Tang Zhen glanced at her without speaking, and Qian Long, unaffected by the woman's winks and provocations, nodded expressionlessly.
After paying three Level 1 brain beads for accommodation, the two received a coarse grain cake and wild vegetable soup for dinner, which was the daily food allowance provided by the inn to its guests.
After finishing their dinner, they each went into a narrow, dim, and foul-smelling small room to rest.
Lying on the straw-covered wooden bunk, Tang Zhen composed himself.
After checking his surroundings, he took out the pouch containing the brain beads.
He slowly placed these brain beads together with his phone, and just as he expected, the brain beads were instantly absorbed by the phone, completely gone.
As the brain beads were absorbed, new changes appeared on his phone screen.
Under the transfer icon, a number '200+' was displayed, and it also prompted him that his total gold coins allowed for over two hundred round-trip transfers!
In his personal information, the total amount of gold coins had reached over thirteen thousand, an amount that was enough to excite him.
He really wanted to try downloading some software immediately, but for safety reasons, he decided to try transferring back home first.
Clutching the bag containing cash and precious metals, he navigated to the transfer option on his phone.
He carefully clicked the icon to try and activate the transfer function.
In an instant, his vision blurred, and he felt as if he was passing through a tunnel.
Tang Zhen successfully returned to his home.
After carefully looking at his surroundings and confirming that he was indeed in his own home, Tang Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This journey was so thrilling and bizarre that even if he told others, no one would likely believe him.
Of course, Tang Zhen would never tell anyone, as it concerned his life and fortune.
Now that he was back home, Tang Zhen could confidently take out his phone and experiment.
First, he clicked on the transfer option and confirmed that each transfer consumed five Level 1 brain beads.
Converted to gold coins, it should be fifty gold coins, and a round-trip transfer would require one hundred gold coins.
Next, he opened the app store and began selecting the software he needed.
During the selection process, he filtered through them and determined that four functions were most suitable for him at the moment.
These were: Basic Map, which could display the terrain and monsters within a one-hundred-meter radius.
Eye Projection, which could project screen images onto his vision and allow him to operate the phone through sensing.
Basic Monster Detector, which could display information on monsters no more than three levels higher than the user's level.
And Micro Storage Space, which could create a one-cubic-meter dimensional storage space.
If he downloaded all four of these applications, the gold coins he had just acquired would be completely depleted, but compared to his life and fortune, these investments were nothing, and these applications could also help him survive better and more safely in the other world.
After clicking confirm download, the gold coins in his account were quickly deducted, and within a few breaths, all four software programs were installed.
Seeing the previously empty phone screen finally filled, Tang Zhen suddenly felt much more at ease.