Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1119 - 1112: New Asia

Chapter 1119: Chapter 1112: New Asia

"As for the Wood Elves," Xia Yue paused briefly before continuing, "I will have her notify the Wood Elves to cancel the warrant for your arrest, so rest assured."

"Why are you going to such lengths to help us?" Cheng Ziang asked.

Hearing his question, Xia Yue turned around to look him straight in the eye, her face expressionless as she said, "I’m not helping you, I’m helping myself. I need your assistance as well as the power behind you to launch the Elf Planet Project. Therefore, I must ensure you encounter no obstacles. Anyone who hinders you is hindering me, so I have to intervene to ensure nothing unexpected obstructs my plan. Do you understand now?"

"I understand, it’s like we’re benefiting from the Elf Planet Project," Cheng Ziang nodded and replied.

"At least you’re aware of your situation," Xia Yue said lightly with a faint smile before turning away again.

"Yue’er, is there a road from here to Divine Wood Town?" Luo’er turned to ask.

"Um, wait..." Baiyue replied as she pulled a waterproof bag out of her pack and then roughly checked a map. Shaking her head, she said, "No, Ilanadale only has a few main roads; most of the other areas are forested."

"You’re asking for directions in your own homeland?" Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but tease.

"So where’s the nearest road?" Luo’er ignored him and pressed on.

"Let me see," Baiyue looked down to search the map a bit longer, then looking up, she said, "The easiest path right now is to head north along the beach to the new port of New Asia, then you can follow the road to Divine Wood Town."

"Damn, if I had known, I wouldn’t have been in such a rush to disembark," Hu Daoke cursed as he watched the merchant ships sailing south along the coast.

Xia Yue’s eyes were closed, as if she was deep in thought. Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide and said, "Let’s go. We’re not far from the new port now, it’s about a day’s walk."

"Eh, walk there?" Hu Daoke asked, looking at her retreating figure.

"What else?" Xia Yue turned back with a smile and said, "Unless you want to carry me?"

"That’s not entirely out of the question..." Hu Daoke scratched the back of his head and chuckled mischievously.

"Cut it out. You want to fly a colorful flag while the red flag at home stands firm?" Cheng Ziang slapped the back of his head, shrugging his shoulders as he moved ahead.

"What’s it to you!" Hu Daoke, wincing in pain, couldn’t help but curse out loud as he clutched his head.

The group continued northward along the coast toward New Asia, a port city they had visited before. Although still under construction, the city was already bustling with merchants.

They saw the city as a front for trade from the south to the north, so the limited ports were filled with merchant ships, including several steamships billowing black smoke.

With visiting traders came settlers who opened shops and stalls. Among these settlers were predominantly people from the Ancient States and the Blaiqi people. Half-elves from New Asia were not welcomed to settle, so the half-elves from the Ancient States could only stay temporarily.

Last time, their visit was rushed, so they hadn’t had the chance to properly observe New Asia. Although the scale of this newly built port city could not match that of Kalenisa across the water, it seemed poised to surpass it eventually.

Before the establishment of New Asia, the Wood Elves did not allow foreigners to settle, so merchants in transit had to pass through dangerous shallows to set foot in Kalenisa, which was entirely unnecessary.

Now, with New Asia established as a key trade frontier between north and south, its trading value naturally exceeded that of Kalenisa and might even challenge its trading position in the south.

As a crucial juncture on the trade route, New Asia could earn a substantial foreign exchange just through transshipment trade. Additionally, with Ilanadale gradually opening up and in dire need of a plethora of goods, the market was promising. Therefore, when this port city announced its establishment and opening, merchants swarmed to it like sharks to blood.

The group arrived at New Asia, and since it was still under construction, the city was almost devoid of walls. There were no checkpoints along the roads, only patrols of Elf Race soldiers.

Perhaps to avoid suspicion, these patrolling soldiers were mostly male, a sight that was quite rare in the female-dominated Ilanadale.

Not only was this place a trade hub, but it also served as one of the starting points for Ilanadale’s anti-hunting operations. On the outskirts camped a modernized army brigade of Ilanadale, supplemented by a contingent of mercenaries.

Although the Advance Team had once used their superior firepower to ambush and rout a Human Race Elf Hunting Team, they could not completely prevent this dirty trade. There were still hunters who coveted the elves within Ilanadale’s borders.

After the new port opened, some mercenaries smelled a business opportunity and came here looking for deals. The Wood Elves were cautious of them, but had to admit that these people were formidable warriors with good combat capabilities, leading to some initial hiring.

These mercenaries weren’t the traditional type wielding melee weapons; since Earth’s weapons had flowed into the Otherworld, they had heavily equipped themselves with these powerful arms. And through repeated battles, they had honed their skills to become an elite force within the Otherworld.

In fact, if these mercenaries were placed into terrestrial conflicts on Earth, exchanging fire with Earth’s inhabitants, they might not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

The Elf soldiers were all uniform in their equipment of the classic Type 56 assault rifles with folding stocks. Considering the Wood Elves’ preference for swords, bayonet mounts were not added under the barrels.

Luo’er noticed that when these Wood Elves carried the Type 51 rifles, the folding stocks remained unfolded rather than collapsed.

The reason for this, it is said, is that Wood Elves especially enjoyed firing from the hip in full auto. They often didn’t like to extend the stock but would rather fire at the target in full auto.

The instructors sent by headquarters had tried to correct this practice several times to no avail, leading to Murong, one who served as an instructor, cursing profusely whenever the topic came up, following up with an apology to Luo’er, hence the vivid memory.

The Wood Elves were quite fond of these automatic rifles with folding stocks. Asking them to switch to wooden stocks was out of the question, and since Ilanadale couldn’t afford to re-equip their military, the instructors had to resort to this compromise. Unless necessary, the folding stock on the automatic rifles was not allowed to be collapsed, to prevent these Wood Elves from immediately resorting to hip firing.

Atop the city’s watchtowers and tall buildings, one could see Wood Elf sentries on lookout. They usually teamed up in pairs, one as the main and the other as backup. The main shooter was equipped with a Type 79 sniper rifle or a Mosin-Nagant, while the backup carried a Type 56 assault rifle.

Due to its subtropical location, most of these Wood Elf soldiers wore light clothing, with a layer of light metal armor over it.

But one shouldn’t underestimate this armor just because it’s light. Ilanadale’s light armor often had Kedal metal inlaid on the outside. With Kedal metal’s capacity to cause breakage and shattering, an enemy’s weapon striking it would often break or shatter upon impact, making it a very effective defense.

It could be said that from weapon usage to personnel training and even army structure, headquarters’ instructors had taught everything hand in hand, bringing Ilanadale’s military up to speed with modernization.

If there were to be a firefight here, without the assistance of Xia Yue and Feng, Luo’er couldn’t see any chance of victory for the Advance Team. After all, this was already a semi-modernized army that might not just overpower them but also possibly stage a counterstrike.

After staying in the city for half a day, the group found a carriage owned by someone from the Ancient States. They paid the fare and set off for Divine Wood Down.

The distance from here to Divine Wood Down was not short; even by carriage, it would take at least about ten days, so they had to purchase enough dry food for the journey.

In New Asia, Xia Yue would deliberately don a large cloak to cover her petite frame.

After all, this was a city in Ilanadale, and if the Wood Elf soldiers thought the Advance Team was involved in trafficking Wood Elves, they might be shot on the spot.

When they got on the carriage, the Ancient States carriage owner frowned at Xia Yue, questioning Luo’er if she was a slave. It wasn’t until he received a negative answer that he was at ease.

Because if the driver knew someone was trafficking Elves and didn’t report it, he would be caught by the Wood Elves and considered an accomplice. In Ilanadale, trafficking Elves was almost always a serious crime, with no leniency.