Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 438 - 431

Chapter 438: 431

After a week of travelling south along the road, the team finally arrived at the border of the three countries: Saint Basaya, Bisana, and Baales. There was a small town here, which had developed due to the industrial growth of Baales, mainly inhabited by merchants and investors.

Bisana is another Bobulu nation. This country has no coastline. If you go west, you will encounter the Namijiya Mountain Range stretching from north to south. It’s an area of hills and mountains with very poor transport conditions, and it also faces threats from the Beastman Race on the other side of the Namijiya Mountain Range.

Bisana, however, isn’t as bad off, as it directly borders two large dwarf nations - the Copperbeard Nation of Lene and the Zhuyan Nation of Baales. After contact with people from Earth, these two dwarf nations have started their industrial development, developing primary industries powered by magic crystals.

As the hub connecting the two major dwarf industrial nations with the Northern regions, Bisana survives reasonably well on tariffs. However, if it wants to develop, it would have to rely on the aid of its brother nation, Saint Basaya.

One crucial factor hindering Bisana’s development is transportation. If the steam railway technology of Earth could be introduced, it would solve the transport deficiencies of the mountainous region, allowing for mined resources to be transported out of the mountains.

But the reality is, in the eyes of the Earth’s people, Bisana is nothing more than a backwater nation. The care in which they have shown to Bisana rivals that of the concern Earth has shown New Zealand. No Earth nation has been willing to aid Bisana in establishing a transport system.

As a result, for a long time, Bisana hasn’t received technological assistance from Earth. Only Saint Basaya would aid them with some industrial technologies, allowing them to just hang on.

And they continuously face threats from the beastmen west of the mountains. These repugnant creatures do not evolve themselves but love to raid other nations’ villages. Regrettably, they are quite powerful. Consequently, every time Human nations try to eliminate them, they often come off worse than they started.

The Beastman Race is indeed a miraculous race. They seem to not belong to this world. Beastmen can only produce offspring with the Human Race. They are reproductively isolated from all other races, including the Elf Race, Dwarf Race, and the Sub-beast Race, while these other races are not reproductively isolated amongst themselves.

The Beastman Race does not engage in production, but rather prefers to raid. They lack a national concept and instead have a tribal concept, resulting in them remaining in a state of chaos within their territories for prolonged periods.

On the Kabarguru Peninsula in the northwest of the continent, two major Beastman tribes reside. They continuously wage war against each other, even organizing pirate fleets to loot ships passing along the coast. However, as their production capabilities are low, they can easily be defeated by merchant vessels of other races equipped with modern cannons.

Fortunately, the Namijiya Mountain Range, which traverses from the north to the south, has isolated the Kabarguru Peninsula, turning it into a separate small world, restraining the Beastman’s pillaging instincts.

In the past, dealing with invasion from the Beastman Race was often a significant headache. These creatures have abrasive skin and tough muscles, and they are extremely strong. Standard armies are no match for them, but stationing Rune Knights is hugely exhaustive.

However, as result of their contact with people from the Earth, these human nations started to equip themselves with tremendous firearms and have finally managed to established a dominant position in wars against the invading Beastman Race. Over the past decade, Beastman invasions have declined by nearly 80% compared to previous years. After the death of tens of thousands, the Beastmen finally understood that a significant technical gap had developed between them and the humans.

As the team got closer to the three countries’ border, Luo’er could feel the temperature rising. Baales mainly has a tropical desert climate, with much of its territory being desert and cities mainly distributed underground along the riversides.

Yes, underground. The Zhuyan are one of the few races who prefer to live underground. This tradition of theirs has continued for almost several thousand years, with a collection of large and small underground towns along the riverside. Some Zhuyan have never left the underground in their entire life and have never seen real sunlight.

But, with the development of industry, the Zhuyan have started slowly moving above ground, establishing an industrial system powered by magic crystals. However, based on their current technology, the efficiency yielded by magic crystals is far less than that achieved by steam. Thus, after years of development, they still remain at the level of primary industry.

It’s not that they don’t want to use steam power, but Earth’s people have restricted these basic technologies. Currently, from the perspective of the entire Otherworld, the only known country that has mastered steam power is probably Ronisca. It is rumored that the Ancient States people have stolen the Earth’s steam power technology, but there isn’t direct evidence to support this claim, leaving the Earth’s people unsure.

The reason that these basic industrial technologies are restricted is simple. To Earth, the Otherworld is still an undeveloped virgin land, like the African continent during colonial times. Before Earth’s people gain full control of the Otherworld, they absolutely will not allow the rise of any nations or forces.

Perhaps, Ronisca was lucky, but don’t forget, the birth rate of the High-peak people is sluggish and it’s hard for them to increase their population size. The Human Race, which can indeed increase its population size, has its development firmly restrained by Earth’s people.

As the Ancient States is located in the southeast of the continent, the team needs to traverse the entire Baales desert, eventually reaching the border of the three countries, Baales, Ilanadale, and the Ancient States. This is the traditional route followed by the Judgement Legion in their campaigns.

After more than a week of interaction, the two sisters, Olavia, had finally gradually accepted all the members of the Advance Team. Even Hu Daoke, who initially appeared extremely vicious in their eyes, had somehow become much more pleasing to the eye, giving off an endearing feel.

"At that time, ah, I jumped aside, and a rocket that would explode just whooshed past my forehead," Hu Daoke continued to exaggerate the magical adventure of the Advance Team in the carriage. However, he elaborated on many parts, transforming it into a fantasy adventure story.

"And then, did you get hurt?" Olavia asked, with her fists clenched and eyes wide open in concern.

"How could I? I just reached out and caught the rocket, throwing it aside, and then the rocket went bang and blew up!" Hu Daoke explained with much animation.

"That’s great!" Olavia exclaimed excitedly, her little fists swinging in the air, nearly shedding tears of joy.

"Ah, this kid..." Tangmo, who was standing next to him, couldn’t bear to listen any longer, covering his ears and leaning on Baiyue’s shoulder.

However ridiculous his stories might be, they were evocatively told, fueling unbridled excitement in his audience every time.

Baiyue kept flipping through her father’s notebook. She was now able to mostly understand the Russian text without needing a dictionary.

Hu Daoke naturally had the knack for familiarity. Initially, the two sisters were most afraid of him, but now he was the one they got along best with.

"Hey, we’re about to enter the desert. Are we going to keep bringing the sisters?" Cheng Ziang and Luo’er, riding horses behind the carriage, heard cries from inside. They couldn’t help but glance at Luo’er and asked.

"I don’t know where else we could drop them off. After all, they are two helpless girls. It would seem irresponsible just to abandon them," Luo’er expressed, looking troubled.

"The Judgement Legion folks shouldn’t be tailing us anymore, right?" Cheng Ziang remarked, observing the Judgement Legion formation from afar.

As the Advance Team was directed by headquarters to run when faced with danger, they always stayed behind the main force, maintaining a certain distance from the Judgement Legion to disengage when necessary.

"We still have a road ahead now, but once we enter the desert, I’m truly at a loss on which direction to take," Cheng Ziang, watching the fading view in the distance, said to Luo’er.

"I understand!" Luo’er nodded.

"With or without the girls, we might die. But taking them along could hinder our troop; we won’t be able to flee when necessary," Cheng Ziang continued.

"Let’s see if there are any villages nearby to leave them. I always worry that if the Judgement Legion learns that we’ve released people, they might intercept us halfway. Our efforts over the past weeks will be fruitless then," Luo’er contemplated, frowning.

"Of course, it’s not my intention to pressure you. I’m just laying out the facts," Cheng Ziang explained.

"I understand!" Luo’er nodded again.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the Judgement Legion’s ranks, but it quickly stabilized. Luo’er, watching them, couldn’t help but frown, asking, "What’s going on? Have they been ambushed by Theron?"

"It shouldn’t be. Theron is a guerrilla force; they’d have openly attacked by now," Cheng Ziang mused, then shook his head.

"It’s puzzling..." Luo’er observed the seemingly unaffected formation, shaking his head.

However, as the team moved forward, they soon discovered the source of the disturbance. By the roadside lay several decapitated bodies, mostly women, who were barely clothed. Their heads had been cleanly cut off and dumped not far away in the grass by the road.

"This is..." Even the worldly Cheng Ziang couldn’t help letting out a gasp of surprise. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, the pungent smell of blood filled his mouth. He turned pale and almost threw up.

"Those beasts!" Luo’er silently looked at the carnage before his eyes, then towards the Judgement Legion nearby. His expression remained stoic, but he clenched his teeth so hard they cracked.

"What’s going on..."

In the carriage, Tangmo, sensing something wrong, was about to poke his head out of the window when Luo’er hurriedly rode up and, pressing on his head, anxiously said, "Don’t look out!"

"What’s wrong, Luo’er? What’s happened?" Tangmo asked, retracting his neck and looking at Luo’er.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. Everyone, sit tight, don’t move, and don’t look out!" Luo’er said indifferently.

"Okay!" Although Tangmo didn’t understand Luo’er’s concern, he nodded obediently and climbed back into the carriage.