Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 197 - 193: Luofu Port

Chapter 197: Chapter 193: Luofu Port

However, Mu Lansi didn’t think so. He always felt that in order for Ronisca to become strong, it must break its dependence on the headquarters. For him, Ronisca should have manoeuvred among the five major powers on Earth in order to obtain the benefits they desired.

But what he hadn’t anticipated was that although Ronisca was important to the Earth’s nations, it was not indispensable. Moreover, the present influence of Ronisca was insufficient to support their independence from the Earth’s nations. Such an attitude would only engender repugnance in these countries.

Breaking ties with the headquarters could make the headquarters bleed for a while, but the headquarters was already supporting Princess Melia to set up a military force. Once she ascended the throne of Masaya, the influence of the headquarters would expand to cover the whole of Masaya. Ronisca was no longer their only ally; losing Ronisca, the headquarters had already found a replacement.

Mooer was aware of this situation. As a commander of the air force, he often travelled back and forth between Ronisca and Yazhi City. Therefore, it was impossible for him not to be informed. He already knew about the headquarters’ dealings with Princess Melia, as Wang Xu had told him.

But apart from him, Mu Lansi didn’t know, neither did the king and the ministers in the palace. They were still immersing themselves in the beautiful dream that Ronisca was the only partner of the headquarters, unaware that the headquarters had already been seeking replacements.

For Mooer, whether it was humbling oneself or degenerating willingly, Ronisca could not detach itself from this Earth-based organization in any case. Therefore, he had to find ways to mend the relationship, even if it meant taking action against his own brother.

Mu Lansi didn’t find what he wanted -- the corpses of the Shani reconnaissance soldiers, which was a result that greatly annoyed him. However, they did glean some gains. The salvage team retrieved two guns, which weapon experts acknowledged as built with modern materials. One of them, an AK rifle, though retro in appearance, was constructed with composite materials that couldn’t be produced in their world.

The other was a light machine gun, which violated the United Nations’ principles on arms export. According to their regulations, such support weapons are military weapons, only to be exported to regular military forces and state organizations but not accessible to civilians.

Although a scandal involving arms smuggling had stirred up quite a bit of controversy in Otland last year, even the Blaiqi people would find it difficult to procure such weapons from the Earth, let alone the ammunition supply that would follow.

Many items from Earth were found among the packages. So even though no people were found, they were able to conclusively ascertain that this was an armed squad from Earth.

With this evidence, Mu Lansi finally felt more at ease and gained the confidence to confront Wang Xu face to face. His plan was to rush to Yazhi City and hold Wang Xu accountable. If necessary, the headquarters would have to make concessions or break off the cooperation. He would then present these confiscated items to the Manikens as his letter of intent.

Despite not finding the bodies, the mission was not entirely in vain. After salvaging the wreckage and spoils of war, the fleet didn’t linger for long, majestically rising into the stratosphere, heading for Yazhi City.

The advance team followed the river downstream, re-stocking at Obus’s secret contact point before continuing along the Ebia River towards the river’s outlet to the sea.

They travelled on a Blaiqi merchant ship. During the civil war in Masaya, the Blaiqi people’s standing was significantly raised, and nobody dared to give them trouble, fearing they would cut off their supplies.

The Masaya Kingdom needed tax revenue to maintain its large military expenses, while the rebels required supplies from Yazhi City, obtained via the Blaiqi people. Therefore, during the two armies’ confrontation, the Blaiqi merchant ships’ routes were always safe.

From their rented fishing boat downstream to their final arrival at the river mouth, it took almost half a month. The merchant ship arrived at Luofu Port in a day, which is Masaya’s largest commercial port and the only southwestern territory controlled by the Masaya Kingdom.

Luofu port had high and solid city walls. With continuous replenishment from the sea outlet, several forceful attacks from the rebels had failed. It seemed that Earth also intended to let Luofu port be independent from the rebel-controlled areas, adopting a neutral stance towards Luofu port’s independence, preventing the rebels from gaining pledge of support, forcing the rebel leaders to abandon the idea of attacking Luofu Port.

Unlike the Winter Harbor and Blue Bay, they had visited before, Luofu port was bustling, a vibrant commercial port. There, they saw many merchant ships from the south and were lucky to meet the so-called southerners.

When most people mentioned the south, they were referring to the Ancient States, a group of human island countries located at the southernmost tip of the continent. These people lived in the south, separated from the north by the Baales Desert and the Namijiya Mountain Range.

The people of the Ancient States evolved from the same humanoid race as the Aud and Blaiqi people. However, due to long-term living in the south and geographical barriers, the Church of Light, popular among the human states of the north, had no market share at all in the Ancient States.

The Ancient State people had their own faith and their own gods. The Ancient States is the only federal country in Otherworld, its supreme power institution being the parliament, representing the interests of all the affiliated city-states.

Exactly because it was a federal country, the Ancient States was very tolerant towards various ideologies and religions. They were also friendly to non-human races, making it a paradise, particularly for mixed-blood elves. As they couldn’t be recognized by the Elf Race and were ostracized by human society, the Ancient States was their only refuge.

Although the Ancient States advocated inclusiveness and openness, they were particularly concerned about the Church of Light, prohibiting its citizens from worshiping this religion. The main reason was that these believers would bring a major problem, namely the Heresy Tribunal Army under the Church of Light.

Because of the religious confrontation, the Heresy Tribunal Army launched numerous religious wars against the Ancient States, but they were always miserably repelled. The Church of Light also forbade its countries to have contact with the people of the Ancient States.

However, Luofu Port was an exception. Although it was the territory of the Masaya Kingdom, it was independent of the control of the rebels. Therefore, it was difficult for the Heresy Tribunal Army to infiltrate and purge these southern heretics. In addition, the Masaya Kingdom needed to continue to receive taxes as a supplement, so to some extent, it tacitly approved this trade with heretics.

"Damn, look at those people." Hu Daoke pointed at the ancient inhabitants in the distance.

"Not seen much, have you? Haven’t you seen the Southlanders before?" Cheng Ziang rolled his eyes and said.

The Ancient States were located at low latitudes with strong sunshine, so most of the inhabitants there had brown skin. Of course, some were quite pale. Luo’er observed for a moment and realized that these people were half-elves.

Although the people of the Ancient States shared a common origin with the Aud and the Bobulu people, those of the Ancient States tended to be darker, and many had a head full of black hair. Luo’er remembered how his own black hair had led him to pretend to be a Southerner. Upon closer observation of these Southerners, he found some did indeed have dark hair, but it wasn’t entirely black.

After resting at a tavern for a while, the group boarded a merchant ship to Yazhi City. Although their situation was quite dire, at least there were no more complications on their return journey. They smoothly traveled from the Lining River to the coast, then took a ship upstream against the flow of the Roen River, and arrived at Yazhi City.

Just as they were about to set sail, Tangmo received a magical message from Wang Xu. Luo’er opened it and his face instantly changed.

"What’s the matter, Luo’er?" Tangmo asked cautiously.

Luo’er glanced at her, looked around at everyone, and said somberly, "The High-peak people have come knocking. They’ve found the things we dropped in the lake and are blaming Wang Xu."

"I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me..." Upon hearing Luo’er’s words, Tangmo lowered his head and apologized regretfully.

"It’s okay, what’s done is done, and the problem isn’t as serious as you think." Luo’er sighed and interrupted Tangmo’s words.

"How did the Instructor handle it?" Hu Daoke curiously asked.

"He could only deny it vehemently." Cheng Ziang shrugged and said.

"I didn’t ask you!" Hu Daoke turned around and glanced at him dismissively.

"He didn’t express the details, but I guess he should have a way to handle it." Luo’er said.

"We might get scolded when we get back." Tangmo muttered quietly.

"The one who gets scolded is not you. I’m the captain now." Luo’er laughed.

"That’s why I feel bad. It’s not your fault." Tangmo glanced at him and said.

Luo’er was taken aback for a moment, then laughed warmly, "We know Wang Xu. There’s nothing wrong in getting scolded by him. He saw me grow up, I know him well, and I don’t think he’s in the mood to scold me."

"Let him scold me. After all, this trouble happened while I was the captain, so I should be the one to take the blame!" Tangmo was becoming more and more passionate.

"I got it, don’t be so agitated." Luo’er stepped back, overwhelmed by the forcefulness of Tangmo.

"By the way, what’s been up with Yue’er lately? Why is she giggling to herself all the time?" Hu Daoke asked worriedly, casting a glance at Bairue in the distance.

"You don’t have to gossip about these emotional issues." Cheng Ziang shrugged off her question.

"What do you mean gossip? I’m just concerned for my partner." Hu Daoke argued back.

He looked again at Baiyue and noticed that she was still giggling to herself, causing him to worry, "Did she hit her head when the plane crashed, like Yaning did?"