Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 387 - 380: City of Stars

Chapter 387: Chapter 380: City of Stars

The stalemate persisted for two days, and Luo’er failed to devise any feasible method to break the current deadlock. They ventured out every day for reconnaissance, yet failed to gather any valuable intelligence.

Seemingly, ever since Luo’er approached them, the Hunting Dog Gang has been increasingly alert. Their minions are everywhere on the street, laying eyes on Luo’er and his companions the moment they step out of their lodgings. As a result, both Luo’er and Hu Daoke decided to stay indoors, tucked away in the inn, awaiting good news from their peers.

What worried him more was that the young girl, Zhenli, seemed to have left the inn for almost two days now. There was no news of her during these two days, which started to arouse Luo’er’s concern.

He had once entrusted Murong and the others to keep an eye out for her, but two days passed without any trace of her being found.

Luo’er started to regret assigning such a task to Zhenli as she was just a teenage half-elf. It was indeed too hard on her to handle such a matter.

"Oh God, my limbs are about to rot." Hu Daoke groaned from his bed, feigning illness.

"How about you head back to the academy for a while?" Luo’er, with Xuzhong Qi’s anthology of Odelanqi stories in his hand, turned and asked.

"No way, what if a mission pops up, wouldn’t I miss out!" Hu Daoke sprang up from the bed, then seriously replied.

Hu Daoke was the kind of person who felt uncomfortable without something engaging to do. He preferred exciting missions over the comfortable life at the academy. The prospect of a gunfight or some such excitement left him breathless with anticipation.

"I’m really sorry I brought you along last time, causing you to be watched as well." Luo’er spoke apologetically.

"What are you saying," Hu Daoke waved dismissively, "I would be worried if you went in alone. If something happened to you, how could I face Sister Moumou."

"We can’t keep dragging it out like this..." Luo’er didn’t feel relieved at Hu Daoke’s words, but instead sighed and spoke aloud.

"Boss, why don’t we do as I suggested. Send two people stealthily into the Hunting Dog Gang’s headquarters, directly abduct their leader, and take him back to the inn for interrogation. If he plays tough, we can use the whip and saltwater treatment; that’s sure to make him spill his guts!" Hu Daoke proposed, clenching his fists.

"Why are you guys always so fond of abduction?" Luo’er asked with a bitter smile.

"Remember how good we were when we first arrived in the Otherworld? Whoever we wanted to abduct, we did, a good beating and they confessed everything. Now, like this, we’re on the fence and I don’t know why we’re so tangled up." Hu Daoke spread his hands, speaking in earnest, as if he was suffering hugely.

"Back then, we were newbies who were not afraid of anything; we were the fearless ones. Now our business in the Otherworld is booming. We can’t resort to those short-sighted acts anymore. If we want to achieve the final victory, we must unite all the forces we can." Luo’er patiently explained.

"Ah, you’re preaching again..." Hu Daoke moaned, collapsing back onto the bed.

Just as he touched the bed, a knocking sound came from the door. He pricked up his ears, then wondered, "Are they back?"

"Um, Mr. Luo’er, are you there?" A young and somewhat unfamiliar voice asked from outside the door.

"A woman?" Hu Daoke turned to Luo’er and asked.

"Go and open the door; it’s Zhenli!" Luo’er motioned with his hand.

"Oh, Zhenli’s here!" Hu Daoke muttered, making his way to the door and opening it.

Zhenli stood there at the door in the same outfit Luo’er bought for her. It was now extremely dirty and unkempt, her hair was a mess and there was dried mud all over her face.

"Wow, what happened to you... did you crawl into a beggar’s den?" Hu Daoke took a step back and asked, furrowing his brows.

"I’m sorry. Is Mr. Luo’er in?" Zhenli politely asked, looking somewhat apologetic.

"Oh, he’s inside. Come in!" Hu Daoke waved his hand, indicating her to enter. After she entered, he looked around the hallway to ensure no one followed her before shutting the door.

"I thought something happened to you!" On seeing Zhenli, Luo’er breathed a sigh of relief.

"I’m sorry for dirtying the clothes you bought me, sir." Zhenli sat down uneasily opposite Luo’er and apologized.

"Never mind, that’s a small matter. What news have you brought back?" Luo’er waved off the concern. Although he wasn’t used to the formality of being addressed as "Sir", he decided to let it slide since it was hard for Zhenli to immediately change her habits.

"Mr. Luo’er, you wanted the news about the Hunting Dog Gang from the great hall, right?" Zhenli asked.

"Yes," Luo’er nodded, and looking at her, he couldn’t hold back and said, "I was worried about you, you know. I shouldn’t have asked you to do such a thing."

"I’m fine, thank you for your concern, sir." Zhenli lowered her head, feeling a warmth in her heart.

"Did you find any information?" Luo’er asked.

"Yes," Zhenli nodded, and then said, "In order to monitor the Hunting Dog Gang’s vicinity, I made myself look very disheveled..."

Luo’er nodded, indicating he understood. With her current scruffy appearance, Veritas was indeed inconspicuous in the crowd. He was initially worried that changing her clothes might expose her, but it seemed that this girl was still rather clever, not so rigid.

Veritas, as a half-elf, has a very youthful appearance, which makes Luo’er subconsciously treat her as a five or six-year-old girl, completely forgetting that she was already thirteen.

"I watched them from the riverbank for two days. They have many commercial ships coming and going every day, which seem to be loaded with a lot of stuff, their draft line is deep," said Veritas.

"How do you know those boats belong to the Hound Gang?" Luo’er asked.

"The ships are rather small. If they were owned by merchants, they would generally be bigger than the Hound’s ships. If they are Blaiqi merchants, they usually use ironclad ships," Veritas explained.

"Hmm..." Luo’er nodded, then said, "Go on."

"I asked some beggars, and they told me that those small boats all come from a Magic Crystal Mine upstream, and they were loaded with magic crystals..."

"Magic crystals? Since when did the Hound Gang start dealing in magic crystals?" Luo’er asked with a frown.

In his memory, industries like mining were usually run by state-owned enterprises or monopoly corporations. The Hound Gang was just a local mob, could they possibly be in charge of mining magic crystals?

"They say the Magic Crystal Mine belongs to the Hound Gang, but I don’t know if that’s true..." Veritas said.

"Hmm, go on," Luo’er nodded and said.

"I observed them for two days. The Hound Gang seems to have a lot of business. There are many ships coming and going every day, but not every ship is transporting magic crystals. They transport the magic crystals to a large ship, which then directly goes downstream. I found a gap in their schedule, sneaked into their warehouse, and stole this!" As she spoke, Veritas pulled out a book from her clothing.

"You’re really brave. You’re not allowed to do anything so dangerous next time!" Luo’er said with a frown.

"Yes!" Veritas quickly lowered her head.

Luo’er sighed, accepting the book she had laboriously stolen. It was a ledger of goods’ arrivals and departures, with data going back as far as two months. The list was written in the Tasta alphabet, which Luo’er and his team had no problem reading, but Veritas couldn’t understand it.

"Hey, boss, what’s this?" Hu Daoke asked curiously, leaning in for a closer look.

"T...Thompson M1A1... Thompson submachine gun?" Luo’er said with a frown, "Why would the Hound Gang buy and trade in submachine guns?"

"Perhaps for their own use..." Hu Daoke suggested from the side.

"For their personal use?" Luo’er paused, then looked at the list, saying, "It’s probably a friendly sponsorship by the CIA. A hundred submachine guns, a hundred thousand Colt pistol bullets..."

It’s generally assumed that people in the Otherworld don’t favor submachine guns, but in reality, for a gang, the utility of a submachine gun is usually better than that of a rifle or semi-automatic rifle. That’s because the main combat area for gangs is the city, where firepower is often more critical than strength.

Rifles are welcomed in the Otherworld because they can penetrate Rune Armor, just like medieval European farmers’ fondness for crossbows. In fact, if you’re not battling knights, the power of a submachine gun is entirely sufficient. However, to unleash its formidable power, a vast amount of ammunition must be expended. In the Otherworld, the cost of ammunition is very high. Thus, many Otherworld people are stuck at this point. If you don’t have some mines at home, who would dare to play with a submachine gun.

"Good thing we didn’t have a conflict with these guys, or we would’ve been riddled with submachine gun bullets..." Seeing the number on the list, Hu Daoke couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Human trafficking... reselling Earth’s industrial products... exporting magic crystals..." Luo’er stared at the list and said, "This should be called smuggling, right? It seems they had no plans to declare customs duties..."

"And then there’s the destination," When Luo’er saw this, he couldn’t help but frown, "City of Stars?"

"What is the City of Stars?" Hu Daoke couldn’t help but ask.

"I’m not sure, it feels somewhat familiar, yet somewhat foreign..." Luo’er said with a frown.

"City of Stars, I know!" At that moment, the door was pushed open, and Yalunte walked in wearing his casual clothes, followed by Cheng Ziang.

Upon entering the room, he immediately saw the curling up Veritas, then couldn’t help but shake his head and say: "No wonder your Sister Moumou is always annoyed with you."

"Can’t you guys stop gossiping about this issue?" Luo’er said helplessly.

"Brother, what’s the City of Stars?" Hu Daoke asked, looking up at him.

"The City of Stars is... the capital of the Ancient States!" After a pause, Yalunte didn’t keep them in suspense anymore and said with a smile.

"The Ancient States’... Wait, the Ancient States?" Luo’er couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Yes, the Ancient States. I have been to the City of Stars a few times, and the environment there is indeed much better than the cities in the North..." Yalunte began, but he seemed to want to say more.

"The Ancient States? The Hound Gang smuggles magic crystals to the Ancient States?" Luo’er excitedly interrupted his reminiscing.