Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 114 - 110: Departure to Masya

Chapter 114: Chapter 110: Departure to Masya

After hiding with trepidation in the inn for three days, they finally received a reply from headquarters. The letter answered their questions and also arranged their subsequent tasks.

Following a meeting within the UN Security Council, the intelligence they received showed that the gunmen’s equipment had indeed been smuggled into Otherworld unlawfully. However, all countries on Earth claimed they were not aware of the hostage incident that took place at Sacred Heart Magic Academy, and those gunmen were not even people from Earth.

In other words, the academy hostage-taking incident was nothing but a farce staged by the people of Otherworld from the start, and had nothing to do with the people of Earth. What puzzled Luo’er was why they would demand the Earth’s military forces be stationed in Yazhi City. Was it just to exacerbate the conflict between Earth and the Church Court?

To blatantly expand Earth’s influence into Otherworld was undoubtedly a huge loss for the Otherworld’s people, so why did they make such a demand? If the Church Court agreed to their demands and allowed Earth’s influence to spread to Yazhi City, what would they gain? Wasn’t this merely gift-wrapping for Earth?

The report from headquarters answered some of Luo’er’s questions, but many things remained unclear. He was no longer bothered speculating though since, based on the intelligence they had provided, the headquarters had sized up the military scale of Holy Heart City. They now needed to go to neighboring Masya to investigate, to confirm if Odelanqi’s troops had truly entered Masya’s territory for rebellion suppression.

With the resolution of the academy hostage case, the city’s lockdown was lifted. Seizing the opportunity, they quickly boarded a boat from the ferry crossing directly to the eastern bank outside the East City District, then reached an inn outside the city, to retrieve their equipment and horses.

"My precious!" Hu Daoke fondly hugged his beloved light machine gun, his voice filled with emotion.

When they infiltrated the Uptown District, only Baiyue carried a weapon. He wasn’t allowed to carry one as it would be too conspicuous, so it had been a long time since he had seen his beloved machine gun.

The inn’s landlord had secretly transported ammunition from Yazhi City to them, relieving their dilemma of lack of ammunition.

Picking up his familiar AK rifle, stroking the polymer foregrip, the feeling of helplessness that had lingered around Luo’er started to fade away. Now that he had a weapon, he didn’t have to live on tenterhooks anymore, pretending to be a slave.

After they got their equipment, they didn’t have any spare time to rest. After a brief preparation, they headed straight for Masya.

Before leaving Holy Heart City, they looked back at the city where they had stayed for half a month. They remembered their apprehension when they first arrived and faced the towering city walls. After leaving here, they would have to go directly to Masya, which was further than the journey from Holy Heart City to Yazhi City. They didn’t know when they’d be able to return here.

Though they didn’t necessarily feel too fondly for the city, as the time to leave approached, they couldn’t help but feel sentimental.

"Let’s go!" Luo’er urged, leading his horse.

Despite their sentimentality, they turned around and left, heading for their destination, Masya.

The Kingdom of Masya is located in the eastern part of the continent, bordering the High-peak Dwarven country, Ronisca, to the northeast. In the northwest of its territory, the Northern Domain Mountain Range and the Winter Mountains run parallel and intersect, forming the only land route to the North Territory, the North Lead Corridor.

There are many hilly areas within Masya, and as you get closer to the Winter Mountains and Galoni Mountains in the east, the elevation changes more drastically. Due to the Galoni Mountains in the east blocking the warm and humid air from the ocean, most of Masya has a temperate continental climate. The southern coast is influenced by a warm current, resulting in parts of it having a temperate monsoon climate.

As the southern part of Masya is relatively flat and has a mild climate, it has become a significant grain-producing area for Masya. The grain produced not only ensures the national food supply but is also a crucial agricultural commodity for trade with the High-peak people.

The terrain from Odelanqi to Masya is relatively flat until crossing the Roen River. Once you cross the Roen River into Masya’s territory, the terrain begins to undulate with the rolling hills. Therefore, Luo’er estimated that even if they continued to travel every day, it would take at least a month and a half to reach Masya’s capital, Galan.

Though the journey didn’t seem too painful, the idea of having to camp outside for almost two months made Hu Daoke groan pitifully. He had grown accustomed to waking up naturally in bed, but now they would have to sleep outdoors and keep watch every night, which made him shiver in dread.

Riding horses across the plains of Odelanqi, they felt quite fast. In just five days, they had reached the Roen River, the border between the two countries. There is an ancient stone bridge here, and with the flow of people that the bridge brought, a small city was formed. From here, if they rode a boat downstream, they could reach their most longed-for place, Yazhi City, in just one day.

Since Odelanqi and Masya are both ruled by the Church Court, there were no border troops deployed at the intersection of the two nations. Only some local military forces were conducting inspections.

After presenting the emblem of the Adventurer’s Association, the soldiers didn’t even bother to ask any questions and directly returned the emblem, letting them pass. They primarily interrogated the Blaiqi merchants. Every time these merchants came to the checkpoint, they wouldn’t let them leave without taking their toll.

Having left the checkpoint, the group finally entered the territory of the Kingdom of Masaya. At this time, Masaya had already fallen into chaos due to war. The peasant rebellion that emerged from the southwest has continued to this day, causing significant damage to the kingdom.

Masaya is a feudal kingdom. The bureaucracy has grown bloated and chaotic, corruption is rampant and has even become an unwritten rule. The peasant rebellion began in the southwest near Yazhi City, where people exposed to advanced ideas from Earth believed they should resist exploitation. Initially, they only purchased some outdated bolt-action rifles to resist the heavy taxes imposed by the landlord class, but the situation has escalated to form a large-scale rebellion. The rebels occupy the southwestern part of Masaya and a quarter of the southern agricultural area, providing them with ample food for prolonged conflict with the kingdom.

In this war, Earth’s attitude is quite ambiguous. On the one hand, they call for both sides to stop confrontations and sit down for negotiations. On the other hand, the weapons in the hands of the rebels are gradually upgrading, starting from old-fashioned bolt-action rifles to now using automatic or semi-automatic rifles, personal rocket launchers, and even small caliber mortars, providing the rebels with the capacity to confront the kingdom directly.

The group rode their horses, advancing cautiously. Although the map showed they were still within the territory controlled by the Kingdom of Masaya, they were already close to the front line where the kingdom’s forces were engaged with the rebels. Therefore, they had to be careful not to get embroiled in this war.

After entering the territory of Masaya, Luo’er adjusted the direction of their journey, bypassing the capital Galan and instead heading towards the riverbank city of Obus near the front line. The path was longer, but closer to the front line, so they were more likely to get information about the Aud army from here.

After twenty days of traveling with scares but no serious threats, they had reached the heart of Masaya’s territory. The trip took a long time mostly due to the mountainous terrain of Masaya and the poor road conditions. Often, they couldn’t even find the road, and had to cross mountains and hills on their journey.

"I miss the endless plains and warm sunshine of Odelanqi so much right now," Hu Daoke complained as he rode his horse, shuddering from the cold.

The Kingdom of Masaya has a continental climate, and it was now winter, with temperatures only a few degrees above freezing and even colder at night. The advance team didn’t have time to get any winter clothes and were shivering in the cold.

Hu Daoke, draped in a cloak, was so cold his mouth was crooked. If it weren’t for needing to press on, he would even prefer to walk, which would be slightly warmer.

"Are you really that cold? You’re exaggerating!" Cheng Ziang rode past, giving him a disdainful glance and spoke coldly.

"You bastard, if you’re not cold, give me your clothes. I’m freezing to death!" Hu Daoke cursed at him.

It was said that Cheng Ziang had a quarter of Snow Elf blood in him, which made him more resistant to the cold than anyone else. Although he didn’t want to admit it, this was an advantage ingrained in his genes.

"Alright, you two stop messing around. Do you want me to take off my cloak and let you wear it?" Luo’er came forward on his horse and comforted them.

"Forget it, I’ll just shiver. Let’s set up camp soon!" Hu Daoke waved his hand, refusing Luo’er’s offer.

"After we cross this mountain, let’s make camp!" Luo’er looked up at the sky. It was only three or four in the afternoon, but the team members were already too cold to bear. Not only Hu Daoke, Baiyue and Tangmo, the two girls had already turned pale from the cold and didn’t even have the energy to speak. Seeing this pained Luo’er’s heart.

A gust of mountain wind swept over them, making everyone shudder uncontrollably, their bodies breaking out in goosebumps. They couldn’t help but quicken their pace, trying to get past the mountain as soon as possible to set up camp and start a fire.

But as soon as they rounded the foot of the mountain, they heard gunshots from far away. This meant that a skirmish was taking place not too far away, most likely between the kingdom’s army and the rebels.

"Ziang!" Luo’er gave him a wave. Cheng Ziang nodded, spurred his horse into a sprint, and headed in the direction of the gunfire. As the advance team’s scout, he was responsible for leading the team across complex terrains and providing frontline reconnaissance.

"Everyone, check your weapons and be ready for combat at any time!" Despite shivering in the cold, Luo’er swiftly took his rifle off his shoulder and loaded it.

"Hehe, if they dare to come, let them taste the power of the infantry battle vehicle!" Hu Daoke confidently said, holding up his light machine gun with one hand.

"Just don’t scare the horses." Luo’er replied dryly.

With a battle happening up ahead, they naturally couldn’t continue onwards. They would have to wait for Cheng Ziang to bring back information. Because they were concerned about revealing their whereabouts, they couldn’t start a fire. Now they really had a tough time. Hu Daoke even jumped down from his horse and constantly paced back and forth with his gun in his arms.