Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 330 - 323: Research Center

Chapter 330: Chapter 323: Research Center

"Just came back from outside, so now what are we supposed to do?" Yalunte stepped forward, asking without betraying any emotion.

"The two of you," the mage glanced at the two and then frowned, "How many levels of magic can you handle?"

Magic levels have been popular for thirty years after the war, originally a standard set by the people of Earth, later introduced to the Otherworld by the church court’s magical scholars, and becoming a tier system to assess a mage’s magical level. The Otherworld’s magical scholars made some improvements to this, and therefore they do not recognize that this system originated from Earth.

The two looked at each other; then Cheng Ziang said, "Level two!"

Cheng Ziang studied at Haiya Academy, although his primary field of study involved melee weapon combat, he also had some knowledge of magic. His magical ability allowed him to use magic around the second level.

"Do you understand runes?" the mage continued to ask.

"Yes," Yalunte responded, "I was at Sacred Heart Magic Academy for some time."

He was telling the truth; when he first met Princess Lin, he often travelled between the Sacred Heart Magic Academy. Yalunte had a good knack for magic, but his own qualifications limited his ability to learn magic.

"Fine then, you two go and transcribe the runes!" The mage pointed at a nearby pitched tent and said to the two of them.

"Hold on," finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something, "What are your two’s names?"

"Yate, Leon!" The two looked at each other before promptly making up some names.

"Yate, Leon..." The mage muttered these names, then lifted his gaze to the two and asked, "Are you two father and son?"

Upon hearing this, Yalunte immediately became petrified, then turned his head to stare at Cheng Ziang. Although Cheng Ziang’s eyes revealed some dissatisfaction, he reluctantly nodded in agreement.

After gaining his approval, Yalunte was overjoyed and said, grinning, "Yes, yes, yes, this is my son!"

"No wonder you two look so alike..." The mage muttered to himself before waving his hand at the two, "Go do your work, after you finish, report to the command post."

After the mage left, the two headed for the tent at a slow pace. Yalunte walked behind Cheng Ziang, glanced at his back, hesitated a bit, then started speaking, "That, sorry about earlier, for saying such things."

"It’s okay," Cheng Ziang lowered his head, his lips pressing tight, then he said without turning back, "It’s just a task, just a task!"

"Yes, a task!" Yalunte vocalized, a smile once again emerging on his face.

On their way to the tent, soldiers carrying guns could be seen everywhere. Cheng Ziang carefully observed and discovered that almost every soldier within the city was armed with a gun, a rarity among Otherworld’s military organizations.

The entire Otherworld’s military was not equipped with many guns, on one hand, magic armor was still the mainstream weapon, on the other hand, it was due to the limitations imposed by humans of Earth. The northern Aud people worship magic weapons, so they didn’t value guns, but there were exceptions.

For example, the Masya Kingdom to the east has been at war with rebels year-round. While their magic weapon troops are insufficient, the regular soldiers armed with cold weapons find it hard to resist the heavily armed rebel forces, so the widespread availability of guns became their primary need.

The Otland in the west has been in a state of peace for a long time, and there are more magical troops than in Masya. Additionally, due to the restrictions imposed by the Church Court, the national army’s gun prevalence rate is not high, hovering between twenty to thirty percent.

The reason that some countries have a low prevalence of guns is entirely because of Earth’s people’s restrictions. As mentioned earlier, Bobulu people are quite united internally, so the United Nations has always worried that they would rely on Earth’s weapon transportation to complete their unification and become a major power on the continent.

Therefore, in the trade with Bobulu’s nations, weapons are strictly controlled. Bolt-action rifles that can be casually purchased in an Aud nation, even the armies in Bobulu’s nations are scarcely equipped with them because the Blaiqi people refuse to sell to them.

The Blaiqi people are a profit-oriented race; they would never offend the people of Earth for the slight profit from the Bobulu people. Because, as long as they offend the people of Earth, it would basically mean the end of their inter-dimensional trade.

Therefore, within the nations of Bobulu, firearms are a valuable commodity. Bolt-action rifles, only issued to guards in an Aud nation, are often sold at a high price in a Bobulu nation. Exactly for this reason, some adventurers began having devious thoughts and became middlemen to make a profit. They could usually wholesale only a few rifles, usually no more than ten, in stark contrast with the Blaiqi people who typically dealt in hundreds or thousands. However, in Bobulu’s nations, these people are the consistent weapons suppliers.

Cheng Ziang noticed that there was a stark difference between the now settled armies of Odelanqi and Oudallo. The poorest armed in the Odelanqi army were using semi-automatic rifles from World War II, and many were carrying the fully aromatic AK rifles.

The Oudallo army, on the other hand, was much worse off. Most of their equipment were bolt-action rifles, some of which even dated back to World War One. Cheng Ziang could even see some soldiers carrying single-shot bolt-action rifles.

Looking at the type of rifles, the equipment of these armies varied greatly, including American, Soviet, British, French, German, and even Japanese rifles.

To limit the military power of the Otherworlders, the Earth nations didn’t standardize the caliber of the weapons when providing them. Therefore, these weapons use all kinds of ammunition, including American 0.30-06 rifle bullets, Soviet 7.62R bullets, British 7.7R bullets, German 7.92 caliber, and French 7.5 rifle bullets. Cheng Ziang thought that if he were to be the quartermaster, he would probably die of frustration.

But these were not his main concerns. What he cared about more was the fact that if these people were simply paying homage to the past wars, there was no need for a hundred percent gun advance. Obviously, they were fully armed for a reason. Considering the hints he had previously gotten, Cheng Ziang now believed more that these people wanted to open the Otherworld Gate and invade other worlds.

As for which world they wanted to invade, Cheng Ziang thought Shariya was reasonable. It would be safer to connect to an existing world rather than an unknown one, so risks could be assessed.

The two entered the tent which had a very strong odor, so much so that Cheng Ziang almost vomited as soon as he entered. However, Yalunte seemed indifferent, clearly having already gotten used to such strong smells, his nose already numbed.

The mages in the tent were hastily busying about. The floor, table, and walls were all covered with blueprints, all featuring the rune of the Otherworld Gate.

Yalunte walked around without making a sound, discovering that these people seemed to be engaged in decoding the rune. Many mages were loudly arguing; it seemed that the hired mages had no hierarchical relationship and thus did not obey each other. The quarrel would probably go on until guards came.

The two picked up a blueprint pretending to scrutinize it while roaming around. They kept talking, seemingly discussing academic issues at a glance.

"That group is studying the Otherworld Gate of Yazhi City," Yalunte peeked at a group not far away and whispered.

"Are you sure?" Cheng Ziang asked, stunned.

"Of course, it’s so loud you’d have to try not to hear them." Yalunte glanced at them again and commented impassively.

"So they are..." Cheng Ziang hesitated.

"Shariya was right, they really want to connect Lipei’s door to Earth." Shariya said.

"It seems that these people plan to invade Earth again." Cheng Ziang looked around and whispered.

He was somewhat speechless, these people’s beliefs had not changed much from thirty years ago, thinking that by achieving a hundred percent firearms proliferation, they could defeat the Earth’s army, as if the Earth’s army wasn’t also fully armed.

A few mages, while talking, spoke about the tragedy at First Line Gorge. The fact that Falok had obliterated over a hundred thousand Earth troops with a forbidden curse boosted their confidence. They felt as if they could do anything as soon as they set foot on Earth.

"What a bunch of fools, as if Earthlings are all soft persimmons." Hearing their conversation, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help shaking his head and muttered low.

"It seems these civilian mages are a mixed bag in terms of competency and knowledge. All sorts of people are here." Yalunte looked around and chimed in.

He remembered when he was alone, clad in heavy armor, charging into the Earth’s army, coming and going like the wind, nobody dared to stop him, it was a splendid story. Little did they know that whenever he thinks about it now, he can’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

Back then if it wasn’t for his rune-laden heavy armor and dodging the fire power of the Earth people with his charge, he would have turned into a puddle of mud under the firepower of the Earth people. As a veteran of the battlefield, Yalunte had seen companions instantly blown up by heavy machine gun bullets, and had witnessed grenade explosions comparable to level four magic. So he’s always been in awe of Earth’s strength, and he still considers himself lucky to have survived the war.

"Since these guys have already drawn the blueprints, we don’t need to take pictures anymore." Cheng Ziang looked at the blueprint with several footprints stepped on it in his hand, and said joyfully.

"Take it easy, bring more blueprints back, so we won’t have to run back and forth." Yalunte suggested.

"Alright, got it." Cheng Ziang nodded, he looked around to make sure no one was watching him, then quietly folded the worn blueprint and stuffed it into his pocket.

Then, the two continued to hold blueprints pretending to discuss them, while making their way out. As soon as they stepped out of the tent, the humid air instantly refreshed Cheng Ziang.

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