"Out with the old, in with the new," Cheng Ziang said, pouring water out of the scabbard of his long knife, "Don’t worry, I’ll protect you next!"
"Forget it, I don’t want your protection, disgusting," Hu Daoke stuck out his tongue at him, disdain written all over his face, "I want Lai Head to protect me!"
"Luo’er doesn’t have a gun either, right?" Cheng Ziang said with a mock-smile, shrugging his shoulders. He fiddled with his sharp long knife, its blade flashing with a dazzling cold light.
Hearing them mentioning him, Luo’er helplessly spread his hands. Although he didn’t want to lose the gun, had he stubbornly insisted like Baiyue at the time, they probably would’ve been caught by the Skylark Fighter hovering over the lake.
"I’ll have Yue’er to protect me, right Yue’er?" Hu Daoke pointed at Baiyue Xing spiritedly, but when he looked at Baiyue, he found that she had been hanging her head, looking very depressed.
"Yue’er, what’s wrong?" Hu Daoke asked with concern, noting that she seemed off since they landed on shore.
"I... I’m fine." Baiyue shook her head, her eyes involuntarily glancing at Luo’er before quickly looking down.
Luo’er suddenly remembered the scene that had occurred underwater, a realization that he had misbehaved towards her dawning upon him.
"What’s wrong with both of you? Did you see a shark underwater?" Hu Daoke asked, frowning at them.
"There’s nothing wrong, let’s set off after checking our gear. We can’t linger here for too long. If the airship arrives and can’t find anyone, they will surely conduct a search operation," Luo’er deflected the question.
This operation was probably the Advance Team’s most disastrous since they entered the Otherworld. They had lost all their major weapons and gear, and Luo’er had been shot, with the bullet still lodged in his chest.
Luo’er let Tang Mo report their situation, and Wang Xu did not blame them excessively, merely saying that as long as they were safe, it was okay. For the Headquarters, as long as the Advance Team was still operational, it was a victory. They only had this one team to deploy, and losing it would mean a return to the era of relying solely on the Blaiqi trade intelligence network.
Now that they’ve lost almost all their supplies and two major weapons, they can no longer traverse through the perilous territory of the Kingdom of Masya and return to Yazhi City. Luo’er suggests they move further from the lake to avoid the High-peak people, find a boat and sail down the Lining River to the Blaiqi trade point in Oburs City for funds, then sail down the Ebia River to the coast, walk along the coastline to Luofu Port, switch to a boat up the Roen River, and finally reach Yazhi City at the junction of the Three Kingdoms.
This would allow them to take advantage of the river’s convenience and reach Yazhi City in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, given their current state, they probably would have starved before they even encountered rebel army ambushes due to their lack of supplies.
After a day’s travel, the group finally entered the territory of the Kingdom of Masya. They travelled along the river, looking for households with boats, and finally found a fishing boat at a ferry point.
This was a fishing boat used for angling, which could easily accommodate five people. However, the midstream of the Lining River was very rapid, and the boat would be unable to return once it reached downstream. Thus, the fisherman was unwilling to rent out his boat.
Although this group looked strange and carried weapons from the Otherworld, the fisherman still decided to protect his property. Luo’er was helpless in face of this situation; the purse of gold they carried had already been lost at the bottom of the lake, and they only had few gold coins on them.
Gold is abundant in the Otherworld, so the value of gold coins is not particularly high. Trying to buy a fisherman’s fishing boat with a few gold coins is simply asking for the impossible. However, the Headquarters had made secondary preparations for such situations. The Advance Team members also carried a small bag of spices.
Although spices on Earth are very common now, in the Otherworld, the price of a small bag of spices is comparable to a bag of gold coins. The United Nations has tightened the import of spices, causing the demand for them in the Otherworld to surge. As a result, these seasonings have become a luxury item only affordable by the nobility.
In past trade between Earth and the Otherworld, there were even exchanges of a ton of gold for 100 kilograms of spices, but these exchanges were soon halted by the United Nations Interdimensional Trade Committee. To this day, spices remain a luxury imported into the Otherworld, earning profits for Earth’s nations.
Because of the value of spices, when Luo’er proposed to use a small bag of spices to barter for a ship, the fisherman immediately agreed without hesitation.
Each member of the Advance Team carried a bag of spices, which were usually used as seasoning because they were traded with gold coins. Hu Daoke, with his gluttonous appetite, had already used up his share and even consumed Cheng Ziang’s. Now seeing that a bag of spices could be exchanged for a whole ship, he kept slapping his face, regretting his insatiable greed.
Having acquired a ship, Luo’er further purchased some dried fish from the fisherman as food, and then sailed down the river all the way to Oburs City.
Back in Helros, when boarding the airship, the sight of Mu Lansi’s livid face brought immense joy to Mooer’s heart.
Just recently, a guard reported on the situation of the Western party in the city. They had initially raised their hands in surrender, but a bullet that shot from outside the encirclement led to an immediate outbreak of hostilities. As a result, all the invaders were killed, and the Urban Mobility Corps suffered seven fatalities and over twenty injuries to varying degrees.
Of course, Mooer knew who fired that bullet from outside the encirclement. Regardless, Mu Lansi’s plan to curry favor with NATO using Western reconnaissance soldiers had essentially failed, which kept his face gloomy even when boarding the main battle airship.
However, his joy didn’t last long. Soon after came a report from the control tower that two Skylark fighters had shot down the transport plane over a lake, and after an hour-long stay, no survivors were confirmed.
Upon hearing the control tower’s report, Mu Lansi hurriedly boarded the airship. He wanted to personally go to the lake to salvage the bodies of the reconnaissance soldiers from the lake depths, and then bring them to Yazhi City to confront Wang Xu.
The news of the entire reconnaissance unit being wiped out weighed heavily on Mooer’s previously elated mood. His only prayer now was that Mu Lansi would not find those bodies, so that when they reached Yazhi City, he might still be able to salvage their relationship with Wang Xu.
Mooer’s thoughts were in turmoil. As he watched Mu Lansi’s retreating figure, a frightening thought crossed his mind: to surreptitiously toss Mu Lansi off the airship and later tell the king it was an accident.
Mu Lansi was a key figure in the breach with Headquarters. If he were to die, opposition to cooperation with Headquarters within Ronisca would significantly decrease. However, Mooer had no desire to meddle in the politics of Ronisca, otherwise, it would be him instead of Mu Lansi advising the king in the palace.
Moreover, such an action would undoubtedly raise the king’s suspicions. Despite his advanced age, the king was quite shrewd and wouldn’t be easily fooled by lame lies.
Nevertheless, Mooer remained noncommittal about this plan. If Mu Lansi really intended to sever ties with Headquarters, he would eliminate him in Yazhi City, then represent Ronisca and clarify their stance with Headquarters.
Killing Mu Lansi in Yazhi City would be disproportionately easy. Even though he had a personal guard of over twenty men, Mooer was the air force commander, and all of Ronisca’s air fleet were his men.
With mixed feelings, Mooer followed Mu Lansi to the lake at the border of Ronisca and the Kingdom of Masya. The airship fleet they brought, consisting of a main battle airship, a ground-Discover more novels on NovelHub - your gateway to endless stories.
With the help of two large transport planes, the wrecked transport plane was successfully lifted and moved to a nearby meadow. However, after inspecting the cabin interior and searching the lake bed, they found no bodies from the reconnaissance team, which eased Mooer’s anxiety.
Although they salvaged a few packages containing Earth’s rifles from the cabin, it wasn’t sufficient to prove that these people were from Headquarters. For Mooer, as long as the Headquarters’ reconnaissance team was not involved, he was confident he could smooth things over in front of Wang Xu.
While Headquarters was important to Ronisca, for the Headquarters, Ronisca was also their most vital ally in the Otherworld. Mooer had reason to believe that Wang Xu wouldn’t sever ties with Ronisca just because of Mu Lansi’s unwarranted claims. As long as he could quietly explain things to Wang Xu after Mu Lansi had vented his frustration, he was confident he could mend their relationship.
The absence of any bodies infuriated Mu Lansi. He had repeatedly urged the king to continue exporting cannons and shells to Masya in the palace, but both the king and the ministers were concerned about Headquarters’ attitude and believed that continued arms export might disrupt the cooperation between Ronisca and Headquarters.
Ronisca relied heavily on aid from Headquarters in many regards. Without the food supplies from Headquarters in the past, Ronisca might have already perished from famine. Even today, many industrial products were imported from the Earth’s country behind the Headquarters. If they ended their relationship, they had no idea how Ronisca would survive.