Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 778 - 771: Terrible Environment

Chapter 778: Chapter 771: Terrible Environment

The Eastern District of Holy Heart City was no different than usual. As an international metropolis of the Otherworld, nearly every race could be seen here besides humans from Earth. Of course, with the arrival of Luoer and his companions, traces of Earth’s people began to appear.

The group stepped onto the muddy streets of the Eastern district. The hustle and bustle was as usual, with rich people coexisting with beggars. Unlike the highly earth-ized Yazhi City, aristocratic customs still prevailed here. Even the wealthiest could not afford to live in the Uptown District, and unless they were of Aud descent, they were not allowed in the Western District and had to settle in the affluent area of the Eastern District.

Perhaps learning his lesson from the last time, Hu Daoke dismounted the carriage with extra care, afraid of stepping on something gross again.

As soon as they disembarked from the carriage, they were hit by a foul smell of decay. Upon closer inspection, they discovered a squashed dead rat under the roadside curb, with its stench spreading in waves.

"What a prosperous international metropolis!" Hu Daoke covered his nose and said with a look of disgust.

"Let’s move. Don’t stand in the middle of the road unless you want to get hit by a passing carriage." Luoer said.

Despite being an international metropolis, animal-drawn vehicles were still the main mode of transportation here, with all kinds of carriages bustling on the streets.

The Eastern District of Holy Heart City was the largest district with the most diverse population. Here, people from all walks of life could be found, ranging from wealthy businessmen to destitute slaves. Both the adventurers’ guild and the professional assassins’ alliance had their presence here.

Feng fastened her dagger at her waist, her hand always on the hilt, and was silent with her head down. She seemed very tense. Her reconnaissance range was about a fifty-meter radius, so she needed to scan a significant number of passers-by, and more importantly, the scanning was dynamic as people were moving.

Feng had a strong perception ability, but it was limited by a maximum number of people it could scan simultaneously. Growing up in the sparsely populated northeast part of Otland, she had never encountered this many people. However, she straightforwardly scanned every person in the vicinity for safety reasons, detecting their hostility.

This scanning had been ongoing since they entered the Eastern District by carriage, and Feng was now exhausted to the point of almost falling over.

"Careful!" Noticing Feng was about to trip over the roadside curb, Luoer quickly reached out to support her.

"Hmm..." Feng sighed with tiredness. She looked up at Luoer with grateful eyes, which was when Luoer noticed that something was not right with her.

"What’s wrong?" Seeing Feng’s pale face, Luoer instantly became worried and asked with concern.

On hearing Luoer’s question, Feng’s lips moved slightly as if to say something multiple times, but she failed each time, and she seemed even more worn out.

"Luoer, she’s been observing all the people around us non-stop, so she might be on the verge of collapse." Fulajie’er’s voice echoed in Luoer’s mind.

"Why are you observing these people?" Luoer asked with a wry smile.

"It’s her instinct, you dummy!" Fulajie’er’s reply came in his mind.

Upon being reminded by Fulajie’er, Luoer finally realized. Yes, apart from her superb swordsmanship and magic formulas, what made Feng powerful was her strong perception ability. Thanks to her, the Advance Team had averted calamities multiple times.

Thinking empathetically, Luoer quickly figured out why Feng was so exhausted. Being used to living in the thinly populated northeast of Otland, coming to such a densely populated city, she instinctively followed her old habit of scanning around for threats.

But she could not possibly scan the sea of passers-by. After all, Feng was only human, not some powerful artificial intelligence. She did not possess such a rapid analytical calculation ability.

"Listen, Feng. Don’t feel the need to scan a large area. Ensure the safety in a five-meter radius around us. If any enemy comes within these five meters and you can give us a warning, we can handle them." Luoer said to Feng seriously with a bitter smile.

He knew it was impossible for Feng to stop scanning because it was her instinct. To put it bluntly, she didn’t even know how to stop herself. Therefore, Luoer could only compromise and ask her to reduce the scanning range. While this still required scanning, it greatly reduced the number of scans required.

"Oh!" Feng nodded seriously and then exhaled wearily once again.

"I have to admit, I’m impressed. I’ll support you for now. If you can’t keep up, just tell me and I’ll carry you," Luoer said, shaking his head.

He was supporting Feng’s left arm because he knew that her right hand would undoubtedly be resting on the handle of the knife at her waist. Though obscured by her cloak, he didn’t need to see to know that was the case.

"Hey, boss, what has happened to Feng?" Hu Daoke, who was walking ahead, only noticed something was wrong with Feng then turned around and asked with concern.

"She’s overwhelmed from seeing so many people for the first time," Luoer laughed, shaking his head helplessly.

"Uh, in that case, maybe we should go back." Seeing Feng’s weary appearance, Hu Daoke felt somewhat uneasy and prepared to summon the carriage back.

"Never mind, she should be fine after resting a bit. We rarely go out, let’s avoid running back and forth." Luoer waved his hand in dismissal.

"Fine then, if Feng really can’t hold up, let me know. I will carry her," said Hu Daoke.

And so, Luoer leaning on Feng and Hu Daoke side by side, headed towards the riverside. They planned to return to the previous tavern to see if they could find traces of Azita. After all, ever since they let him go, they always felt that he was an unstable factor.

Although they hadn’t visited Holy Heart City many times, each experience was deeply etched in their memory, so they were quite familiar with the layout of the Eastern District. Before long, they had entered the slums.

The law and order and environment were both ridiculously terrible here, with garbage and excrement littering the streets and corners. Even though public sanitation systems from Earth had been introduced to Holy Heart City, not all areas had such comprehensive sewage systems.

The slums still practiced defecating anywhere, and even people living upstairs would throw their sewage down. Modern advanced concepts of Earth’s people weren’t learned much, but they had conveniently adopted medieval Western sanitation habits.

Therefore, walking in the slums, the three were constantly on edge, watching not only where they stepped but also for possible sewage falling from above. The air was filled with an indescribable stench—if they had thought the smell was bearable where they had dismounted the carriage, the smell here was now eye-watering.

Even though the Advance Team had experienced a lot traveling in various terrains, they lived in a modern industrial society and had never experienced anything like this, so even Luoer was somewhat at a loss.

After crossing the residential area of the slum, they slowly arrived by the river. Here was a commercial street along the river. Although the environment was still terrible, it was considerably better than the residential area of the slums.

The three arrived at the familiar entrance of the Dead Cat Tavern, which was still open as usual, but they didn’t know whether the people inside were still from the Hound Gang.

Considering the conflict last time, Luoer decided to be cautious. Luckily, by this time, Feng had restored some energy, so he had her ready for combat at any time and unlocked all the weapons on her.

After preparing, Luoer and Hu Daoke exchanged a look and walked into the Dead Cat Tavern together. Feng followed closely behind them, her dagger ready to be drawn from its sheath at her waist at any moment.

When they entered the Dead Cat Tavern, it seemed somewhat desolate, either due to the weather or the previous Church Court’s crackdown. Two lanterns flickered on the pillars, barely illuminating the room. The bartender was lazily sprawled on the counter, like a corpse.

Although the sound of the three pushing the door drew some attention, the bartender didn’t seem to have heard and continued to lounge on the counter, completely ignoring the trio.